Through Mystery and Madness
by ballofstring66
Summary: What happened to Loki between Thor & The Avengers? Crippled and immobile he is at the mercy of Thanos & The Other but he is not the only one, another lost legend is also captive. Can these two survive abuse, betrayal, torture & starvation? Warning: sex, explicit language, and some heavy, visceral content and forced abortion later on
1. A whore and a bitch

**Chapter revamped December 14th and once again on Jan 2nd 2013.**

**To all regular readers these updates are mostly tidying SPAG but also adding some descriptions and filling one or two plot holes. You don't have to re-read it all if you don't want to as the changes won't ruin the rest of the story for you.**

**Many thanks to everyone who reviewd and gave advice and to Redheadedmarina for her valuable input andf SPAG corrections.**

**Please note that this Morgan (not Morgana - thank you :-) ) is partly based on legend but with a completely different perspective. She is a thing of my own invention.**

* * *

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter One**  
**

**A Whore and a Bitch  
**

* * *

The strange creature, known only as The Other, walked away, leaving Loki prone on the desert floor. He gritted his teeth as the pain coursed through him in waves and his back arched in an agonised spasm. It was almost worse than when he first landed on this accursed planet. He couldn't get up, he couldn't fight back and he didn't know what they wanted from him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this so called 'nurturing' He'd wanted to die when he fell from the Rainbow Bridge, but even that luxury had been denied him.

He had no idea how long it had been since he had fallen - since he had watched the disappointed faces of Odin and Thor as they let the abyss swallow him up. There had followed the desolation of space and his all-encompassing grief for so very long - and then he had hit the ground. After that, he remembered very little - only sporadic images of people he had once loved. The physical memory of his mothers hand, warm in his. The convulsive, violent spasms that tore at his body and soul.

And then, in a rare moment of respite and lucidity, The Other had appeared. Loki had never seen anything like this being before. It was grey and craggy, as if it had been hewn from rock, and it wore a cage over it's face that may have been there to protect it from injury - or possibly to protect others from it - Loki hadn't made up his mind. Today it had talked about its master, some being it called Thanos, and how they were 'nurturing' the fallen Asgardian for some purpose.

Wherever he was - whatever these creatures were - Loki was alone, disabled and at their mercy. Unable to turn his head, he could see nothing except rock and dust out of the corners of his eyes. He closed them and tried to think.

A soft, feminine voice drifted out of the air. "They don't stop you know. They're relentless. It's better to just give them what they want."

He tried to look for the source, forgetting his predicament for a moment. Hissing as the movement in his neck sent a red hot stabbing pain down his spine, he screwed his eyes shut once more.

As his misery gradually subsided, he ventured another look and discovered her standing above him, peering back curiously. Long, dark hair fell around her face; he couldn't tell if it was just shadows, or if her eyes were actually black.

"Who are you?" he managed, his jaw clenched against the pain.

"Morgan le Fay. Who are you?"

He knew that name. "The sorceress? Merlin's whore?" He narrowed his eyes to try and focus better.

Her face seemed to harden. "It is a fact that any woman, with any kind of power, will inevitably be called a whore and a bitch. I am one, but not the other. If you insult me again, I promise that I will stand on you until you pass out from the pain." She placed a leather booted foot on his chest. "Now, answer my question, who are you?"

To be fair, she had the upper hand here. "I am Loki," he said, although every time he moved his jaw to speak, it tugged at the ragged nerves in his back. He could feel another spasm building.

"Loki, the Mischief Maker?" She looked at him in surprise. "Well, you don't appear to be up to any mischief at the moment, Loki. How did you end up here?"

"I fell…" he could only whisper now, "…from the Bifrost." He blinked away the lights flashing across his cornea and tried to focus. "I could ask you the same thing…?"

"I was sold to Thanos and his creeping, toady sidekick that was just here. They haven't killed you yet, so they must want something from you." She paused to look him up and down and added an aside, "You're rather scrawny for an Asgardian."

It was Loki's turn to harden his face. "I have no idea what he wants from me," he snapped, "…sold? How so? What can Thanos possibly want with a half-talented Midgardian witch?" The effort of uttering so many words at once clouded his mind with pain, but he still noticed the shadow pass over her face.

"What does any male want with a female slave? I hear you are blessed with more intelligence than most Asgardians so why don't you use it?" she spat the words at him and punctuated them with a swift kick to his ribs.

The veins on his neck stood out as he strained against his damaged body. Finally, he let out a long breath and forced himself to speak, "Thanos keeps you as his concubine?" It wasn't the choice insult he had lined up but it was all he could manage.

"He certainly intends to, perhaps that what he plans for you also? He likes a pretty face." She gave him a nasty smirk. "Oh, don't look so scared. I heard that you gave birth to a horse, so accommodating Thanos should not be too hard."

He glared back. "And _I_ heard you bore your brother's child, whore. The Midgardians are nothing if not inventive." The discomfort of speaking didn't matter, because she kept her promise. He felt her weight on his chest and the last thing he saw before he passed out was her face, twisted in a sneer of triumph.


	2. God of Fire

_**WARNING for use of the C word in this chapter. But only once.  
**_

_**Revamped Jan 2nd 2013  
**_

* * *

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter Two_******  
**_

_******God Of Fire  
**_

* * *

"So you _are_ still alive, then." She was standing over him, pursing her lips and he had to blink away the flashing lights for a minute until he could see her clearly.

"What is it to you whether I live or not?" he said, forcing the words out with a grimace. He needed to get up. Or die. But dying didn't appear to be an option.

"I couldn't care less, but Thanos will not be pleased if I kill you by accident. He wants you alive for some reason and I don't intend to rattle his chain." There was a petulant edge to her voice.

Loki took several sharp breaths and clamped his teeth together as he tried to raise his shoulders from the ground.

She lifted an eyebrow. "I wouldn't try that yet if I were you."

He snapped at her, frustrated at his own helplessness. "Don't… presume to give…me orders…I am a… King…" His words peppered by his groans of misery as he strained to move, but his body was having none of it. The effort was too much, searing, white pain fired through his nerves and the world folded back into nothing.

* * *

Drifting on the edges on consciousness, muffled voices buzzed in his head and he felt heavy footsteps around him. He thought there was more pain, but he couldn't tell if it was internal or inflicted upon him. Once, he thought he was back in Asgard, in his mother's arms.

"_Loki, you saved him."_

"I was king." He wasn't sure if he'd said it aloud or who he was trying to convince. "I should be king."

A blinding light split through his skull and his body arched, bent in an impossible bow. He could feel his mouth open and black, blessed silence enveloped him once more.

* * *

When he came to again, the first thing he saw was the witch, Morgan, sitting cross legged on a rocky outcrop and drinking from a leather flask.

"Welcome back to wonderland. I warned you not to try moving." She looked at him thoughtfully for a brief moment. "I think you broke your back when you landed. Although…there is definitely more movement than you had a couple of days ago, so...perhaps you are healing?" Her gaze drifted away until she was staring blankly out over the desert. "No thanks to our torturers." She took a bitter, disinterested swig from the flask but turned her face back to him when he licked his lips unconsciously.

She made a show of taking a long, lengthy draft of water. "Want a drink, kingy?" She mocked him, uncurling slowly from her comfortable position on the rock. "No minions to pamper you? What are you king of, exactly, anyway?"

"Why do you continue to plague me, woman?" He barked, his mouth scorchedfrom thirst. She was right, talking was definitely easier.

"Who else is there to talk to in this godforsaken place? Besides…" She eased her feet down on to the dusty desert floor and gave him a strange look from underneath her curtain of hair "…you were screaming. It was hard to concentrate on anything else."

Had he been screaming? He cursed his own frailty and watched her take another long drink. His patience finally gave way and, pushing himself painfully up on to one his voice rasped abrasively at her, "You know, I don't know who sold you to Thanos, but I can see why they did. You are ceaselessly irritating; I hope they got a good price? Perhaps your skills in the bedroom make up for your perpetual ignorance? Practise must surely make perfect?"

She closed the gap between them so quickly he thought she was going to kick him again but something held her back. Fear of Thanos, he suspected, from what she had said earlier. Instead, she stepped across his body, placing her feet on either side of his waist. With a wordless sneer she turned the flask upside down, letting the precious liquid drain into the dust by his head. He started laughing; he couldn't help it, an uncontrollable belly laugh that caused his shattered body to spasm. Her face swiftly dropped its triumphant smirk.

"You are truly something special," he snorted, "I am Loki, king of Asgard, witch. I may be incapacitated, but if you want off this realm I suggest you treat me with a little more respect." He was still conscious despite the paroxysm of hurt, a noteworthy development.

"You think you can get us away from this place?" she asked warily, after a long pause.

So, she was smart and he had something to bargain with. "When I am healed, yes. If I don't expire from thirst in the meantime." In fact he wasn't sure he could travel from this world at all, but he needed a drink and she needed to learn some manners.

"King of Asgard? How come? What happened to Odin?"

Annoyingly smart, woefully lacking in subservience and with a talent for making him angry. He avoided the question. "Get me a drink, _witch,_ or I swear, as soon as I am able, I will break your pretty white neck." She must have seen the intent in his face because her eyes widened and she marched off.

He dropped his head back to the ground, realising he'd been able to lift it and he could clench and unclench his fists too. He _was_ healing, slowly but surely.

He wondered if she'd come back at all for a while. In fact she returned quite quickly and knelt beside him with a full flask. One hand supported his head, surprisingly gently, as she held the bottle to his lips while he drank deeply.

"Thank you." He said, laying his head back and closing his eyes. "Now tell me, who sold you?"

She sat down in the dust next to him."Who do you think? Merlin. He would sell his own grandmother for a cup of sack."

Loki opened his eyes and looked her over. Her knees were drawn up and she traced idle patterns in the dust with a finger. Her long, wavy hair fell around her face, hiding it from him. "I take it he got more than a draft of sweet wine for you?" She was irritating, yes, but it would be a crime for her to fetch so little a price. Not that she needed to know that.

"Thanos gave him some relic or other. I don't know what it was."

"What did it look like?"

"A horn. A hunting horn. Do you know what it is?"

Loki shook his head

"You weren't always the God of Mischief, were you? Merlin is a cunt of the highest order, but his knowledge of lore and magic is unrivalled. He called you the Fire God, a Master of Magic. He was in awe of you."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her profanity. The God of Fire? He had not been called that in centuries. "Who knows what Midgardians choose to worship or why? But,it's true that I have some skill at manipulating fire."

She opened her mouth to ask yet more questions, but then they both heard the footsteps echoing somewhere in the rocks. Morgan le Fay caught her breath and with a whisper of dust was gone without a word, leaving Loki and the empty flask behind.

A chill ran down Loki's spine as he felt the presence of The Other beside him.

"_I see you have had a visitor."_


	3. Needs must

**Updated Jan 2nd 2013**

* * *

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter Three**  
**

**Needs Must  
**

* * *

"_I see you have had a visitor."_ The Other positioned himself somewhere out of Loki's range of vision. _"She was given explicit instructions regarding contact. She will be punished of course. He does not tolerate disobedience."_

Loki strained, testing his body again but to no avail. "Why does Thanos not come himself? Is he afraid?"

The bolt of pain hit him in the ribs and caused his body to contract involuntarily; pulling on all the shattered bones that he could not move himself. He bit down hard on his tongue to keep himself from screaming until it subsided. Spitting out blood and gasping for air he said, "If you tell me what it is you want I am sure we can come to some arrangement."

The laugh was insidious but The Other spoke in a conversational manner, belying the cruelty underneath _"In good time Asgardian, when you are ready. You still have a way to go."_

"I will not last without water."

"_Then I think we may find a use for the witch after all. It seems we can hardly keep her from wandering as it is so she may as well fetch and carry until Thanos requires her. Be warned, she is not to be touched or defiled in any way."_

Defiled? Loki processed the choice of words for a moment then chuckled and gestured as much as his injuries would allow "I can assure you that Thanos will find her in exactly the same condition as Merlin sold her."

He knew it was coming and bit down hard on his tongue once more but, even prepared, he couldn't block it out. He was weak, his magic was non-existent and he had no defences. In the end he could hear himself scream, oblivious to all else.

The black depths of betrayal and desolation enveloped him as images of Thor and Odin muddied his mind. He had been king. He should still be king. Instead they'd let him fall in to this abyss of torment. The grief - the memories - felt too big for his head to contain and reality slipped from his grasp, as intangible as smoke.

He thought he could feel the weight of a cool palm on his brow and a hand holding his own. An image of Frigga, his mother, filled him with anguish - then he tried not to think of her at all and the soothing touch faded away. The world swam back in to focus, the barren landscape began to take shape and what he thought was a rock became Morgan. She was sitting a yard from his prone form, arms wrapped defensively around her knees.

"Do you need a drink?" She was trying to convey neutrality and calm and her expression gave nothing else away. He nodded in response to her question and she moved to sit behind him and cradled his head as before. He took in the swelling lip, blackened jaw and the blood that had run from her nose and smeared across one side of her face.

"Rinse your mouth." she commanded, "It's full of blood."

"I see The Other has used some gentle persuasion." He watched her face but it remained impassive. She gestured at him with the flask again.

"Are you officially my nanny now?" he managed after spitting a mouthful of gore in to the dust beside him.

"So it would seem. On the other hand I could be planning all kinds of mental torture to amuse myself so don't give me any trouble."

"That's an improvement from standing on me until I pass out.

She raised an eyebrow but didn't respond so he ventured his luck. "Merlin sold you to Thanos as a virgin didn't he?"

She sat back on her heels and gave him a dangerous look. "What did I just say about not giving me any trouble? And how would you know if I am a virgin or not?" He wasn't sure exactly what expression crossed his face but it caused her to stick out a thumb and dig him sharply in the side with it, making him gasp like a fish for several seconds.

"It appears there are only two states of being for a woman that count: virgin and whore."

"And you are neither?"

"And what are you Loki? Are you a virgin? That's an insult for a man isn't it, yet considered a virtue for a woman? What does any of it matter?"

He appraised her silently for a moment, "It matters only because Thanos believes you are a virgin. What happens to you when he finds out you are not?"

"How does it concern you? You promised to snap my neck remember? Perhaps in time I will be grateful for that as an alternative to whatever Thanos will do to me."

He couldn't answer her. Or wouldn't. It mattered because she kept his mind off the pain, on the occasions when she wasn't inflicting it. She focused his thoughts, distracted him from the endless passage of time – there were no days or nights in this place. He realised that he didn't want to drive her away so he changed the subject.

"Can you describe the geography of this place? I see nothing but dust and rock. What else is here?"

She had tipped some water on to the edge of her tunic and was wiping the blood from her face "There is nothing else. We seem to be in a crater. The sides are thousands of feet high and impossible to climb. I tried. There is nothing more than what you can see - dust and rock."

"Where does the water come from? Where do you go when you are not here?" He flexed his fingers again; he had more movement than earlier.

"There is a cave a little way off. It goes nowhere but is quite deep and there is an underground pool and waterfall."

"How far down does the pool go?" He said, testing how much of his arm he could move.

"It's waist high. It drains through a crevice in the rock, impossible for a human to get through. The waterfall likewise, it comes through a crevice, it's too narrow for me to even get a hand through."

"So how does The Other get here?" He found his arm had mobility almost up to the shoulder. He could move it a foot in either direction.

"I really don't know. He just appears."

"I've made you angry?"

"Since you first opened your mouth, Loki."

"You look tired and you're shivering."

She ignored him and drew patterns in the dust.

"Where do you sleep?" He persisted

"By the mouth of the cave usually. It's warmer up against the wall."

"You'll be no use to me exhausted and frozen. If we are to find a way to escape this place you should rest." She had dark hollows around her eyes. He wondered if he looked the same.

"You need warmth." He said opening his arm out in invitation. She gave him such a scathing look he laughed.

"I am really not in any position to abuse you in anyway. I merely offer you warmth to preserve your strength."

She snorted "How can you be warm, you've been immobile for days?

"I have quite a tolerance for low temperatures." He said shortly. She was trying his patience of which there had been very little to begin with. He gestured again, noticeably irritated.

She spent some time considering it in silence but the shivering seemed only to get worse and reluctantly she curled up against his side. It was awkward, she drew her knees up and let them rest against his hip and her fists balled defensively under her chin like a child. He covered her with his cloak and blew a few strands of hair away that had covered his nose, listening until her breathing became even and regular.


	4. Polar Nights

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter Four**  
**

**Polar Nights**

* * *

There were periods when he thought his pain might be easing up a little. Then, The Other would appear and torment him until he was insensible, or screaming, or both. Loki still had no idea what they wanted from him. He'd bitten his tongue so many times he could feel the lace design of the scars against the roof of his mouth. The perpetual dusk was taking its toll. There was no form or shape to the passing of hours, no days or nights, no discernible pattern to his torture, no way of anticipating, preparing or measuring. His mind undulated between anguished, abstract nightmares and the cold focus he directed at the witch whenever she appeared.

She had taken to curling up by his side to sleep; uptight and unwilling, but needing the warmth he provided. Time wore endlessly on and her catnaps became short and irregular, as did her temper. Occasionally, she would fall in to a gloomy silence and he had to goad a response from her; he risked her physical retribution but he could not let her collapse in to melancholy. He needed her to keep himself functioning.

…

"You are not trying," he barked.

She threw a rock at him in frustration. "I AM trying, I cannot...my power is drawn from the Earth, from its iron core. There is nothing here I can get hold of. "

"Everything contains energy. You just have to feel it."

"Show me then."

Loki rolled his eyes. "My apologies, I had not realised you were both deaf _and_ stupid. I have already explained I have no resources for magic until I have healed physically." It was the truth, he could summon nothing. In fact, he barely had enough strength to keep his eyes open.

"Then perhaps it is _you_ that isn't trying," she spat.

His patience broke, "Get out of my sight, you amateur. I have endured enough of your mewling for one day."

She rolled to her knees and bared her teeth. "I hope you get weeping, pus-filled ulcerations on your arse so that I can kick them," she hissed venomously. Then, she quickly slipped a sinuous hand under his body and pinched expertly at a nerve. His body jerked painfully and in his fury he reached a hand out and grabbed a fistful of her hair, wrenching her head back.

"Bastard," she gasped.

"Whore," he countered.

"You wish, runt!" she nipped him with her fingers again, clearly beginning to enjoy the fight.

He flinched and yanked her hair again, this time pulling her face up close to his. "Talentless doxy," he sneered as her dark eyes pierced his, daring him.

"Impotent cripple," she enunciated each word as a challenge, dangerously quietly. He felt the whisper of her breath on his face and he noted how flushed her cheeks were.

Loki shifted his grip to her face, intending to reject her, push her away but something in her expression stopped him and, instead, he brought her back to him for a kiss. Her jaw tensed under his fingers, then softened and responded. Any new sensation, any new game was welcome to break up the monotony of pain and depression they endured constantly.

Moving to sit more comfortably astride his waist and press herself to his torso, she braced her hands on the ground and stole wary, fitful morsels from his lips as if she thought he might reject her at any moment. The weary grind of what had become their lives forgotten for a short while.

He played along, teasing until he felt her anger, and only then drawing her mouth to his with a passion that caused her to gasp audibly. For a moment, the rapid beat of her heart pounded against his chest. She tried to pull away but he would not allow it. Clasping her face with one hand and holding back her mane of hair with the other, he sought out her willing tongue with his own, victorious.

Despite his triumph, he eventually broke the kiss. His ragged breathing heralded the onset of another spasm and she moved away, although one hand remained on his chest as if to comfort him.

Sometime later his fevered hallucinations returned. In a brief, lucid moment he noted her absence, even as he felt the reviled presence of The Other arrive, and insufferable agony excluded all else from his thoughts.


	5. Survival

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter Five**  
**

**Survival**

* * *

"Try again."

"I really can't," she whispered. She was on her hands and knees, head hanging.

"You almost had it." He was impressed at her progress, but at the same time frustrated by her limitations. "I've never known a human even get close to it before. Try again."

She hadn't gone into details, and he hadn't asked, but it seemed her early life had been controlled by the bitter designs of ambitious men. Merlin, she'd told him, had eventually taught her how to channel her magic. Loki could see though, that the man had clearly held plenty back in an attempt to suppress her abilities. This woman had the potential to be truly formidable, even by Asgardian standards, so he'd taken it upon himself to teach her properly. He couldn't yet use his own magic but perhaps she could use hers.

"I tell you, I can't. I can't keep it moving like that in two directions at once," she growled.

When humans used magic, they would tap into the energy from the iron core of Midgard. Humans, however, could only channel it one way. This was why iron, such as that found in a horseshoe, was traditionally used to ward off magic; it cancelled out the polarity and rendered it useless. There was plenty of less stable energy to tap into, but the key to mastering it was to keep it flowing back and forth. It was a skill not easily learned, and one that did not come naturally to humans and their frail form.

Whatever planet this was, it had no iron core so if she were to muster any power at all then she had to master the art of alternating current and draw it from other sources.

He set his jaw. "And _I_ tell _you_ that you can. You have strength; most Midgardians could not even get the alternating current moving at all, never mind sustain it. Remember what I told you, and try again." He would not allow her to fail. He needed an ally. He needed her power.

The muscles in her shoulders tensed. She did not lift her head, but he saw her fingers spread in the dust as she gave it another go. There was a barely perceptible flicker in the air around her and he heard her draw her breath sharply.

"Don't lose it. Don't let it run out through your fingers this time, turn it back upon itself." Unconsciously, he laid an encouraging hand on her shoulder.

Another gasp came from underneath her curtain of hair, and slowly she raised her head, looking at him. Her wide, dark eyes now had a golden shimmer and the joy of discovery he saw shining in them held him hostage for a moment.

Since they'd kissed, they had been physically more relaxed and familiar with each other. Even so, they had not kissed again. It had been something borne of a single moment, and it had not repeated itself. Yet. He wondered at allowing the word "yet" to cross his mind.

But she was slowly starving to death. Her skin looked sickly, and her hair was dry and brittle. The effort of sustaining all that energy flow was too much in her weakened state. As quickly as the power came, she seemed to shrink and then she collapsed in the dust. He would have reached out to her, but a bolt of pure agony suddenly hit him and he knew nothing but white, burning pain.

"Why don't you just kill me?" he pleaded in between the torture.

"_Not yet, Asgardian. You have something we require."_

"Tell me what it is you want, for Odin's sake!" He grabbed fistfuls of dust and cried out as another blast hit him.

"_In good time. When you are ready."_

He forced words out from between his gritted teeth. "Then at least feed us. She will starve to death in a few days. Without her, I will eventually die of thirst and hunger also." Although it will take a very long time, he thought.

There was no reply, only more of the same. Loki felt the scars on his tongue open once again and the warm, coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. The unwelcome images of his treacherous family flooded back in to his fevered mind and ended as it always did, with his mother's cool hand on his brow.

* * *

Once she'd brought up the dry wafer, she could hardly have had anything left to vomit. Her stomach had continued its rejection anyway. He glanced over. One of her feet stuck out, but the rest of her was hidden behind the rock. Disturbingly, there was now no sound at all.

"I warned you not to eat it all at once." he called, knowing how it would irritate her. The silence worried him. "Come here and take a drink of water."

She did not move. He had no choice but to get over there somehow. At least he now had more movement in his upper body and could sit up. She had spent several hours building a wall for him to lean against and had taken to pinching him viciously when he really annoyed her. Now that he had more movement he had been able to pinch her back just as viciously. It had been a happy, distracting afternoon of bickering about which boulders she should use and inflicting bruises on each other.

The foot had not moved. He toyed briefly with the idea of leaving her to die. The thought of empty, endless days in this place without her voice, her warmth…he grabbed the flask and tucked it inside his tunic, then began dragging his useless body, elbow over elbow to where she lay. He would not abandon her as they had been abandoned.

The grit and dust got in to his eyes and throat, making him choke. He tried not to think about the pain. It took him an age to get close enough to reach her foot. "Morgan!" He shouted as he tugged at it. He hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath until she emitted a barely audible whine. He laid his head against her ankle in relief.

Unceremoniously, he pulled her through the dust toward him until he could cradle her head and shoulders. Her hair was matted and grey with dust. He smoothed it away from her forehead. She looked like death, and he knew he did not look much better himself.

"Come on. Take a drink." He poured a little water down her throat that caused her to choke and dry heave again. She sighed as the spasms finally died away, nestling in to him as he held her.

"Just one more drop." There was no gentleness in his voice but his light and reverential touch gave him away and she opened her dark eyes to stare directly into his. He felt as if it were the first time anyone had ever seen him clearly.

"Let me die," She croaked.

"No."

* * *

_**Edited 9/01/2013**_

_**Took out the random bit where she gets all turned on by the magc [I had intended to go somewhere with that but never did] and added in some more explanantion and relationship development [I hope]. **_

_**Many thanks to Redheadedmarina for betaing - apologies if I ruined it by adding more stuff! If there are still SPAG errors they will be mine not hers.**_


	6. Hunger

_**Thank you to the following reviewers: **_

_**Doctorscompanion [So glad you think it's refreshing]**_

_**Howlynmad [Happy you think Loki is in character]**_

_**Zippythewondersquirrel [always pleased to get your reviews and that you are enjoying it]**_

_**The-Lady-Isis [Thank you for the compliment on characterisation]**_

_**Guest [Glad you like it. Hope you are still reading!]**_

_**Author's note - There were a few things about this chapter that were bothering me [plus a few grammatical niggles]. It wasn't quite right and needed tweaking to better represent Loki's mental health [not good] amongst other things. I also decided that the sex was a bit too pat if you know what I mean? Think Morgan needed to hold something back to retain control – she's naturally suspicious and wary of making herself vulnerable. Plus, I have some ideas for character and relationship development that will happen later.**_

_**I'm so glad you liked the first draft – I really hope you'll like this version. Do let me know what you think**_

Loki's green eyes stared vacantly in to the desolate tract that stretched out all around them. Muscles twitched in his face and his teeth ground together as he relived the torture all over again; his anxious imagination dwelling on what might be to come. A flash of red against the cliff face dragged his focus back to the present. Thor? Had his brother found him? He knew in his heart that it was only an illusion, that his mind was playing tricks; they wouldn't come for him - the monster. They had wanted him to fail; expected it and he had obliged. He struggled, eyes closed tight against the pounding rage and fear in his head until, his body exhausted, sleep took over.

When he woke, a parcel had been left nearby. He scanned the area uneasily, expecting The Other to be waiting nearby but there was no one. It was a little while before his tension let up enough to allow him to open the packet. It contained more of the wafer; some sort of army ration he thought, dull but nutritious. At least there was enough now to feed them both and he ate a whole wafer himself before rousing the barely conscious Morgan. He shifted her to an easier position against his shoulder, proffering a small piece he had broken off but she refused and turned her head away.

"You will eat." He ordered, more harshly than was necessary. "Or I will handle you like a disobedient colt and make you open your mouth whether you like it or not." Lacking energy to speak her lips remained closed in a thin, defiant line. Forced to carry out his threat he pressed his fingers sharply into her gums until she gave in, allowing him to drop in some food and a swig of water to wash it down with before she could spit it out again. Her dark eyes glittered balefully at him but he simply glared back remorselessly and held her jaw firmly shut until she swallowed. She was obstinate and he sustained a few malicious bites in the process of proving he could keep the pantomime up for as long as she could. Eventually she ate of her own accord although he estimated it was a couple of days at least before he no longer had to nag her in to it.

…..

"I don't want any more." For the first time in a long time she slid a hand under his clothes and pinched him nastily.

"I see your strength is coming back to you." He flinched. "Perhaps you _shouldn't_ have any more. You're much more pleasant when you're starving and semi-comatose." He jerked her hand away before she pinched him again, lacing his fingers tightly in to hers to prevent a further assault.

"Who is Laufey?"

"What?" He said sharply.

"You mutter things when you are asleep sometimes."

He didn't answer at first, unsure how to. After a considered pause he said "Laufey was my natural father. It seems Odin chose to take an abandoned baby as a spoil of war."

"You're a frost giant?" Her eyes widened a little.

"What brings you to that conclusion?" He snapped, neither confirming nor denying it.

"Odin's war against the frost giants is the only war I know of that would be relevant. But who was your mother? You can't be all frost giant – not looking the way you do?"

His mother? It wasn't a question he wanted to think about. The witch was too clever for her own good sometimes. "And how exactly do I look?"

She seemed to struggle with her answer, as if she didn't quite want to say it out loud but eventually she emitted one begrudging word. "….handsome." She said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

There was an awkward silence.

"You killed him though? Laufey?"

"Did I say that in my sleep also?" He was defensive now.

"Yes. I'd say good for you, he deserved it for abandoning a baby. Who would do that? Besides…" Something in her voice made him look at her although she was not looking back; instead she was staring at his fingers, still threaded securely through hers. "Besides…. I am in no position to judge. My stepfather may not have died entirely from natural causes…"

He had honestly not been expecting that. "Tell me."

"He deserved it too. He raped my mother. Merlin helped him disguise himself as my real father because Uther Pendragon lusted after her and would not be denied. He got her pregnant with his bastard son then killed my father and married her. Uther… knew that I saw…what he had done. I was so young but the power was already in me and I saw through Merlin's spell. I should have been next in line for the throne but I was sent to a convent out of the way until I was 14 then they married me off to a vicious, vindictive man as if I were no more than a mule to be bought and sold."

She leant against him, resting her head against his shoulder and flexing the fingers entwined through his. "It's the power that frightens them, the magic. They look at you suspiciously all the time. They fear we are greater than them so they beat us down, belittle us to ease their terror. "

He recognised the bitterness in her voice and knew exactly what she meant. He had always been distrusted, was always the first to be accused.

"What happened to your husband?"

"It backfired on them. He died." She caught his look. "Oh, his heart gave out, nothing to do with me but I did inherit his wealth and things changed. Merlin couldn't dismiss me any longer and Uther… well let's say he had a bad cup of wine." A thin smile spread across her lips. She looked up "You didn't tell me what happened to Odin. How you became King..?"

"He fell in to the Odin sleep. He had banished Thor for breaking the pact with Jotunheim and I … I took his place." He clenched his jaw, loath to discuss it any further and, surprisingly, she did not press him. Instead she changed the subject.

"We are running out of water."

…

The walk to the cave was probably only three miles he estimated. He had healed enough that he could stand although it felt as if red hot knives were driving in to him with every wretched step. She was still ashen and frail and they had to hold each other up to make any headway at all. It was excruciatingly slow going but it kept his mind from drifting to the murkier places. It felt like they had covered a thousand miles by the time they finally reached the source of the precious water and they both waded directly in to the black lake fully clothed, the cold weightlessness providing blessed relief until they crawled to the edge and fell into an exhausted sleep.

…

It was a small cave, mostly taken up by the dark pool. There was a little light from the entrance but phosphorescence from a few calcite cave pearls added an eerie glow. The path from the mouth of the cave led in to a sandy beach that skirted one edge and this was where Loki sat on a high rock as he watched the witch float naked on her back; her dark chestnut hair spread around her like seaweed.

She had woken suddenly, stripped unselfconsciously in front of him and walked in to the pool without a word. The strange light made her appear luminously pale against the dark water as she drifted. The angle of his view concealed the starkness of her ribs and the hollows in her cheeks caused by starvation. She had long limbs and a slender waist set off by generous hips and breasts and he spent some time appreciating her form.

Gradually his eyes roamed up towards her face again only to find her staring back at him in mild amusement. Caught in the act, he inclined his head to acknowledge his guilt but held her gaze without embarrassment. The look between them lingered, charging the air with all kinds of possibilities; ever the opportunist Loki raised his eyebrows and opened his palms in silent question.

She paused as if deliberating something then, her mind apparently made up; she stood and let the water cascade from her body. Morgan le Fay waded through the pool to stand, naked, in front of the God of Mischief; lifting her fingers to comb cautiously through his tangled black hair.

"Are you trying to seduce me witch?" He asked as he studied all of her with a slow deliberation.

"Yes. Is it working?" Her face was so close to his he could feel her breath as she spoke.

He answered her by taking a gentle, explorative taste of her lips with his own. She shivered and he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her in to a pensive kiss that matured breathlessly in to an urgent and immediate need for each other. Fingers working quickly at the fastenings at his waist, he lifted her on to his lap; feeling her tense grip on his clothes and how tentatively she took him inside her he pulled back for a second.

"How long has it been since you…?"

She smiled at his concern, interrupting him. "I've forgotten. Decades? Maybe centuries. I'll be fine." She pressed her face in to his neck and curled her fingers in to his hair signalling for him to shut up.

He let her take her own time; her uncomfortable gasps becoming more sensual and eventually syncing with the rhythm of her hips until she was riding him confidently. She was so tight around him he wasn't sure how long he would last so he slid his fingers down between them to heighten and quicken her pleasure. He misinterpreted her intake of breath and was surprised to find her strong grip on his wrist, pulling his hand away.

"No?" He asked, puzzled.

"No." She sighed, moving his hand back to her waist.

"You might enjoy it." He countered.

"Be quiet." She hissed, biting him sharply on the ear.

"Suit yourself." He murmured, at a loss.

He gripped her hips making her cry out as he thrust upward, her weight pulling her hard and deep on to him as he came. Grinding harder in to his lap, she wrapped her limbs tightly around him in a primitive, pulsing embrace that died gradually away leaving them in a spent and languid tangle.


	7. Reflections

**A short update but I had to get it down on paper.**

**Thanks again to all the new and existing followers, favouriters [?] and reviewers.**

They remained connected for some time, finding unforeseen yet welcome comfort in each other's arms and Loki was no more willing to relinquish it any sooner than she was. It meant warmth. Survival. Life. Things that neither of them could take for granted anymore. After a while she shifted slightly so that she could look in to his face and he saw the unspoken question in her eyes. Were they lovers now? Or just lost souls? He didn't have the answer but it didn't matter because he knew she would never ask.

"You're getting cold." He rubbed the goose bumps on her arms and reluctantly allowed her to step to the ground. He watched her get dressed and noticed that her clothes were still damp; only just realising his own were dry he beckoned her over and took the hem of her tunic between his fingertips. Her eyes widened and looked up to meet his as she felt the warmth spreading through the cloth.

"That's a good trick. A little domestic perhaps but useful in the current circumstances." She said.

"Domestic?" He bridled. "I can make them damp again for you if you'd prefer?"

"I did say it was useful. More importantly, how much of your power do you have back?"

"Good question." He concentrated and the air shimmered until a replica of himself appeared but it was insubstantial and faded away almost immediately. He huffed in annoyance.

"Not a great deal it seems. Still perhaps now we should walk the perimeter and start looking for a way out. Are you strong enough?" She nodded and he took her hand, leading her upwards and outwards.

The light outside seemed blinding compared to the gloom in the cave and their eyes were adjusting gradually until a bolt of electric blue split the eternal dusk, tearing Loki's hand from Morgan's and throwing him several yards across the desert floor. He rolled to his knees, reaching for knives that weren't there as his still damaged spine spasmed at the onslaught.

"_You were warned, were you not, that she is not for you?"_

"I promised that Thanos would find her in the same state that Merlin sold her. Virginal however was never an accurate description." He glanced at Morgan, aware that if they survived this she would be unlikely to thank him. She was backed against the cliff wall eyes staring fixedly at the ground. He got to his feet, wincing at each muscle movement.

"I am afraid Merlin saw you coming. Delightful as she is, the lady is a widow. Perhaps Thanos should seek elsewhere for his particular… appetites?"

"_Thanos takes his pleasure as he wishes and I have no doubt he will take it from her no matter what the circumstances."_ The hooded figure moved swiftly to where Morgan stood and grasped her by the hair forcing her to her knees. _"Virgin or no she makes a pretty spy does she not?"_

He saw her eyes screw shut, refusing to look back at him and he knew it was the truth.

"_Do not fret Asgardian, she will be given back to you in due course to deal with as you please and I have a proposition to discuss on our return."_ Loki watched in silence as the creature vanished, dragging the witch with him; malevolent, mocking laughter ringing in his ears.


	8. Most things break

**There are lots of updates this week. I have had a bit of spare time and a lot of ideas going round my head.**

**Thank you to all the new reviewers, followers etc. Much love and appreciation to the existing ones too. All of you are truly excellent people with impeccable taste.**

**Updated Dec 10 to tweak and adjust SPAG.**

After they had gone an arid silence settled around Loki and he remained still, a twitching muscle under his eye the only clue to the gathering turbulence beneath. Finally, bending stiff fingers in to his palms, he turned away from the cave mouth to walk the perimeter of the crater as he had originally intended. He barely took a step before razor-edged pain sliced him in to shuddering pieces and he braced one hand against the cliff wall, drawing himself as upright as he could. He took a few deep breaths to centre himself again, then grimly continued his systematic search for a means of escape.

There was none. It was dreary, painstaking work and, at first, the world would reel around him meaning he had to take frequent rests, dragging it out even more. Over time, the pain lessened a little and his explorations of the clefts and fissures grew faster but it was futile; he found no trails he could follow, not physically nor with sorcery. Sometimes paths between worlds could be found with tendrils of magic. Cracks could be widened just enough to allow anyone with enough skill in the arts to pass but this place was a fortress, not even the slimmest of hope presented itself.

Always methodical, he checked and double checked but in the end had to concede defeat. Water bottle empty, he made his way back to where the cave mouth lay. As it came in to view it became clear there was something amiss, something additional to the barren landscape and he slowed his approach until he could make sense of the shape. Gradually it's shadows and outlines morphed in to Morgan; she was crouched against the cliff wall, knees bent, one hand relaxed across her lap while the fingers of the other made those endless patterns in the red dust. But the dust wasn't red. Shouldn't be red. Her other hand was red. The one across her lap was not relaxed at all but twisted in an unnatural shape, staining the desert floor with dark, disturbing rivulets of crimson blood.

She was facing his direction as he approached; she should have seen him or heard his footsteps but she made no move at all. It was only when he bent one knee beside her that he noticed she was trembling. Placing a hand on her shoulder to rouse her, he was suddenly pitched backwards by lightning fast strike from the heel of her good hand. It barely made contact but there was power behind it. Uncontrolled and directionless power but, most definitely, sorcery.

"Loki?" There was a startlingly strong rage in her voice, but not levelled at him he thought.

"It's Loki," he acknowledged, reaching carefully for her damaged hand. He curled a lip at the mess but could not see it clearly enough to assess the damage so he raised her up gently, taking her in to the cave to clean it in the cool water. She submitted without resistance, flinching but uttering no sound when he held it under the waterfall. He watched her face as the blood rinsed away but she simply pressed her lips more tightly together.

"What would you have done?" she asked, apropo of nothing but he knew what she meant.

"I would have done the same, although I'd have made a much better spy than you. You were achingly obvious at times." With the blood cleaned off the wreckage was clearly visible. They'd used some tried and tested torture methods, what they hoped to gain he couldn't guess. Perhaps they just enjoyed it.

"You knew?" she whispered, gaping at him.

He could probably reset the dislocated fingers easily enough but it was going to be very painful for her.

"Of course I knew what do you take me for?"

The nails that had been pulled out would grow back eventually but the exposed flesh underneath was raw and tender. He let her hand lay flat in his and summoned what little power he could to seal the skin. It wasn't much but it would protect them until the nails regrew.

Her eyes had been boring in to his face for so long he finally turned his own gaze to meet them. "The question is the information you had to pass on is of so little value that I wonder at the purpose for exposing your subterfuge. What is Thanos really up to?"

"You're not angry with me?"

"Oh I wouldn't say that." He reset the first of her broken fingers with a sharp movement, making her shriek and snatch it away.

"You terrible, pox ridden _cunt,"_ she screeched through clenched teeth.

His face remained impassive, "It's your choice. You can let me fix the other three fingers or you can have a hand like a tree goblin for the rest of your unnaturally long life."

She breathed heavily, her face a picture of pure disgust but eventually she held it out towards him.

"Don't worry the rest will be less painful," he lied.

Afterwards he went inside to fill the water bottle, leaving her rocking on her knees, keening and cursing him wildly as she cradled her ruined hand to her chest.


	9. Tender is the touch

When all had become quiet again, he ventured out. She was leaning up against the cliff wall, head back, legs stretched out in front of her and her damaged hand lying in her lap; the other hand unconsciously tracing those endless patterns in the dust. He sat down next to her and it occurred to him that he had never seen her cry. Her eyes showed no sign of it now, nor had they when he'd found her earlier. Had the years prolonged by sorcery burned the heart out of her he wondered? He also wondered if she were hiding anything from him. What else had they done to her that wasn't showing on her face?

"Did they tell you what the purpose was, of the fingers and the nail pulling?"

He proffered the flask and she took it in her good hand, unscrewing the cap with her teeth.

"Punishment they said. For you. Because I had you."

"I think _I_ had you," he baited lightly.

"Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better," she said caustically, "whichever way you want to look at it, we are ordered to refrain from any further sexual intercourse."

"The Other said that?"

"Thanos. He didn't use those exact words."

"Which words did he use?"

"He said, and I quote, 'If you let that Asgardian whoreson rut you again I will make him fuck you in the mouth until you choke to death.'" She took an anxious swig of water and then looked at it in vexation. "I would kill for a bottle of Glenturret right now."

"Did Thanos…."

"No," she barked. Then more softly, "... no. He talked about it a lot, what he would do to me, while he dislocated my fingers. He seemed to be content with inflicting pain though. Perhaps he can't get it up?"

"Perhaps." Loki found he didn't want to speculate but it did make him wonder what was going on, "I take it you are still providing them with information?"

She threw him a rare, unguarded look, somewhere between apprehension and brittle vulnerability. Her mouth opened to speak but, when the words wouldn't come, she sealed it shut and dropped her eyes away. She might have a prize-winning poker-face but, he realised, when it came to the crunch, she was unable to lie to him. For some reason he was pleased about that.

"Have they asked you for any specific information?"

She shook her head and he smiled shrewdly to himself, "Can they see us in this place? Hear us?"

She shook her head again. "I don't think so."

"Listen to me. I don't think your role as infiltrator has any meaning. I believe they are playing a different game so tell them whatever you want but don't fight them - I don't want you to get hurt." That hadn't come out quite the way he had meant. He swore inwardly; the situation they were in was forcing this bond, this fragile alliance and he should not give it any credence. But the way she was looking at him with those dark eyes, as if she knew everything about him – he felt skinned, flayed and butchered open before her like a ritual sacrifice.

He held her eyes for slightly too long until she brought her lips to his in an innocent, soothing kiss. When she pushed the tip of her tongue delicately in to his mouth he met it with his own and they lingered, lost in the elusive, subtle caresses.

* * *

Later, needing to be alone with his own thoughts, he went inside to sit by the pool. Staring at the water his mind felt so dull; even though his broken body was healing, every movement was still a painful effort and he had to force himself to think. They'd set her to spy on him then left her to starve to death as if she didn't matter at all. The threat of rape seemed to be continually implied yet never carried out. They physically tortured her but didn't bother killing her. They were grooming him for some other purpose they seemed not to want to tell him about. None of it made any sense and it infuriated him. If he could work out what these creatures were up to ….

"_The Tesseract..."_

The voice of The Other startled him out of his musings, "What?" He scrambled to his feet, feeling stupid to have been caught unawares.

"_You asked what we wanted from you."_ The creature seemed to glide rather than walk and was beside him before he could react. _"We want The Tesseract. You will find it."_

The belt of pure energy that hit him was like nothing - nothing he had endured so far. His body convulsed in a seizure so violent he felt his tongue sever completely in two and hot, coppery liquid choked him. He was held in a prison of pure, white pain and he could only wish for an end that would never come.


	10. In the balance

_**Hope you like this chapter everyone. I struggled with it a bit. Tweaked for SPAG Dec 11th 2012, although I'm bound to have missed something. -hangs head-  
**_

"Mama, why does father hate me?"

"He doesn't hate you, Loki - you caught him at a bad time, little one, that's all."

"I only wanted to show him my magic. He's always complaining about his ale not being cold enough."

"I know and it was excellent magic, turning his cup all icy like that. You are a very clever boy."

"Why did he shout at me so much then?" The little boy turned his face into his mother's lap to hide his snuffles and she wrapped her arms around him tenderly.

"Sometimes he has very important things on his mind. You just caught him at a bad time. Don't cry, little one, mama's got you."

Loki convulsed and coughed blood, spraying it all over the sandy floor.

"I've got you. "

_Mama?_ He screwed his eyes shut against the burning tears behind his eyes. Something pushed in to his mouth making him gag and he fought to break away.

"I've got you, keep your head forward." A cool hand lay on his forehead. Not his mother. Not his imagination

"Keep still. I've got you, keep still now. It'll be over in a minute okay? Don't bite me." What was left of his tongue was grasped firmly and there was pressure, forcing his head down despite his struggles. The witch, what was she doing? Whispers that sounded like nonsense echoed through the cave and then he felt the electricity sizzling through her fingers, crackling and popping as it spread outwards from his tongue. He convulsed again and his tormented body screamed in protest; ravaged sinews and splintered bone on fire.

Suddenly she let him go and his fighting instincts lashed out. Demented and uncomprehending, he landed a powerful punch to her stomach sending her sprawling in the sand. Mercifully his convulsions died away as his vision and his reason began to clear. Heworked his jaw a few times, testing the newly grown muscle and spitting out the last of the blood. Sitting up shakily, still leaning his weight on one hand he realised she was still clutching her stomach and gasping for air. Before he could speak, her face twisted in to a furious scowl and she kicked him full on the nose with a booted heel.

There was enough power behind the kick to snap his head around and he blinked in surprise. Morgan groaned and tried to push herself up on to her knees but collapsed, cursing, rollling on to her back.

"At least tell me you can speak," she huffed, still breathless from the punch.

"Yes I can speak, although the kick didn't help. What did you do?"

She shrugged,"I don't know. The power - it just came. When I saw you lying there - I thought you were dead and it just came."

"Do you still have it?" His own voice was still rather weak.

She shook her head and lifted her hands as if to show him.

"You've healed yourself as well," he pointed out and they both stared for a second at the hand that had been twisted from torture. It looked as good as new.

"How about that, " she said, as puzzled as he. "What about you? Has your power come back?"

He set his jaw in frustration, "No. Whatever it is that they do when they - it drains it out of me."

"They never use that energy thing on me though. They seem happier with good old fashioned physical abuse." She made a sardonic face.

"It's because you are human I think, it would kill you. Or _they_ think it would kill you. They don't know that you have power?"

"No. I _didn't_ have any power until you showed me." She raised herself up on to an elbow. "You need to wash, you are _covered_ in blood, it's feral. And afterwards you can tell me what a Tesseract is."

…

"It's a cube containing cosmic energy. " They sat, leaning listlessly against the cliff wall. "Odin created it centuries ago, for what purpose I do not know. I believe it was stolen."

"Why would they want it?"

"As some sort of power source perhaps? I have no idea."

"I thought you Gods were supposed to have all the answers."

"Do not overstep your mark witch," he replied, aiming low and clearly hitting a nerve.

She pulled her feet under her body and shot back, suddenly furious, "You arrogant bastard! I just grew your tongue back for you! I held your hand and soothed your poor fevered Asgardian brow whilst you screamed for your mother - on numerous occasions - so mind how you speak to me!"

"And I brought you back from the brink of starvation. Do not think I owe you a debt. Our accounts are balanced." Truthfully, he was shocked and veiling it behind harsh words. He had thought the hand that had held his was a hallucination of his mother. A product of his delirium but it had been her. Every time.

Poised on the brink of mortal combat, a metaphorical safety catch seemed to switch to 'off' and they both tensed, scrambled to their feet, prepared to open fire on eachother. But - before the dogs of war could be let slip - a low, luxuriously velvet voice interrupted them.

"**You heal quickly Asgardian."**

This was not The Other - this was - what was this?

"Thanos." He heard Morgan whisper.

It was huge and muscular and it's voice - it's darkly treacled voice filled Loki with horror and he felt his bile rise. He drew himself up, needed to face this creature like a warrior, he was sick of crawling in the dust like a snake.

"**You have been informed of our request?"** it drawled, moving up behind him - far too close.

Loki set his jaw, "The Tesseract, you wish me to find it. What do you need it for?"

The thing laughed sadistically, **"You ask too many questions. You will find it."**

"And if I say no?"

"**Then you suffer,"** it said simply and lifted its hand. Loki flinched, expecting a blow or another blast of power. Instead, it trailed its finger along his cheek in a sickeningly sensuous touch that opened his flesh to the bone beneath. He felt his heart hammering and fought the urge to turn and run as blood trickled down his face.

Summoning his mettle, he tried to keep his voice cool and even despite the panic rising in his chest, "I cannot find it using rock and dust. I will need my power and I will also need some supplies."

An inhuman chuckle resonated in the thing's throat, **"Your requests will be granted but if you try to trick us, Liesmith, it will go ill for you."**

…..


	11. The truth lies sleeping

_**Well, I don't know. I am worried it may be getting boring. There's not a lot of plot in this chapter but this was in my head so I had to get it down. What do you think?**_

_**Edited Dec 11 2012 for SPAG and some tweaks to characterisation  
**_

…..

After Thanos' visit, they had been transported one at a time to a new location and then left, once again, completely alone. Another crater, much like the previous one but this time with a single-level building. It felt like coming back to civilisation.

The structure was basic, some sort of military outpost Loki guessed, but it had furniture, beds, a kitchen and a bath tub. They found provisions in the cupboard and Morgan fell on them like a vulture. She pulled everything out on to the floor and sat amongst the food like a child amongst its birthday presents. She found an odd looking fruit and sat back to pull it apart with her fingers, picking out the tiny yellow jewels within and dropping them delicately on to her tongue, savouring every one.

Loki leaned against the doorframe and watched her; she was desperately hungry and totally absorbed in what she was doing. Strangely, it was the most erotic thing he had ever seen and he began to fear captivity was warping his mind. He turned away.

"Loki, you need to eat. Come and have some."

"I have other things to do." He didn't turn but neither did he walk away.

She snorted, "What things?" He expected another acid remark to follow but it never came.

"You need to eat don't you? Immortal God or whatever you are. You need sustenance. Loki, come and share this with me. Please."

The unprecedented graciousness made him look over his shoulder then, the rawness so palpable in her voice but her face gave nothing away. She cleared a space next to her on the floor and held out the fruit to him in invitation. He rolled his eyes theatrically but, nonetheless, he moved to sit next to her and took her offering of a few of the buttercup coloured seeds.

He chewed thoughtfully, "Pomegranate!" he declared and found a fruit of his own to eat, resting his elbows on his drawn up knees as he pulled it open. They ate in comfortable silence.

"I'm scared." She blurted out suddenly, apropos of nothing.

"Of me?" He frowned, looking at her, then made a face as he berated himself for being so obvious.

The half-amused way she watched his expression change told him he'd given himself away too easily and he was about to get up and leave, when she moved to kneel in front of him. She took his face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth. The fruit rolled away forgotten as he shifted, found himself pulling her closer. She wanted to be kissed then he would oblige, take her, use her and rut this foolishness out of them both until there was nothing but hate left.

She whispered in to his neck, "Why would I be afraid of you?"

He twisted his fingers into her long hair, gently but firmly pulling her head back so he could look at her.

"Because I don't need your permission," he had to remain in control, "I could take you whenever I wanted. And you would let me."

Her dark eyes narrowed, "And if you took me without permission then you would just be like all the rest. Is that what you are, Loki of Asgard? Odinsson. Are you a common rapist?"

She asked the question as if she already knew the answer and he released his grip.

"I didn't think so. You need more than just a conquest. You want to extract every ounce of gratification and you need a willing partner for that." She lifted her shirt over her head and moved to sit astride his lap, tracing the wound Thanos had left on his cheek with her thumb.

"Then what is it you're afraid of?" he asked, his hands running over her ribs, moving upwards.

"I don't understand why they leave us together," she leant in to his touch, "if they don't want me sullied by your fine and substantial talents then why do they push us together? They almost kill us both then provide us with everything we need."

His hands flowed down to her hips and rolled her expertly on to her back. He lay alongside her, his weight propped on one elbow. "It's a standard control trick. It's designed to make us feel thankful, subject more readily to their will. Judging by the way they thought I had healed my own tongue they cannot see us so I take it you told them we had coupled?"

He leaned down and kissed her neck as his long fingers stroked softly over her belly, toying with her waistband.

"Yes, afterwards - when you were asleep. I had no choice they…." He hushed her with a finger against her lips.

"No excuses now, your duplicity is one of your more attractive traits. So if they can't see us, we are free to do as we please." His fingers moved slowly under the top of her leggings but, as before, she caught him swiftly by the wrist to prevent further exploration. This time he would not be denied.

"I thought you weren't afraid of me."

"That doesn't mean I trust you."

"But mistrust is born of fear. What do you fear Morgan? You want to push the limits yet you set such rudimentary boundaries." Defences up, he went for kill, "Is this love?" He teased bitterly, "do you fear betrayal and rejection so you hold this back. You give pleasure only, as allowing yourself to receive it lays your heart open wider than you can bear?"

She let go of his wrist and shoved him. At first he thought she was playful, laughing - until he saw the curious brightness in her eyes.

"You think this is _love_?" He was bewildered.

"You think it _isn't_?" She challenged just as bewildered.

He got up sharply. "This is not a romantic ballad and we are not star crossed lovers you foolish girl. This bond is forced on us by captivity, deprivation and torture. It's contrived, artificial and I expected more from you than this." He picked up her shirt and dressed her roughly.

She slapped his hands away and pulled the shirt into place. "But you admit there is a bond? Just because the circumstances are exceptional, that doesn't mean it isn't real. And don't patronise me you conceited pisspot, I said nothing about love. You were the one who mentioned it. Twice!" She shouted the last word at his retreating back.

Loki strode through the building and slammed the front door behind him. He occupied himself with walking the area as he had done before but the terrain was all too familiar. He combed the grey walls, the crater was smaller this time but there was still no means of escape. Uptight, hs mind turned inwards and back in to the dark places he tried so hard to avoid; endlessly persecuting himself, recalling all those bitter moments, those unthinking rejections and the bare faced lies from what had once been his family. He turned and twisted them until he no longer knew truth from fiction.

When he returned to the outpost there was no sign of Morgan but the door to the second bedroom was shut. The physical exertions had taken their toll on a body not yet recovered fully and, his mind in turmoil, he lay down on the empty bed and screwed his eyes shut againt all his demons.

* * *

The nightmares infiltrated his sleep like shadows; half- forgotten recollections of death, hate and falling through an abyss - shot through with blood red vivid memories of agony and such unbearable pain. He woke, curled on his side in a sweat, teeth clenched and hands fisted in to the rough sheets as he fought agaisnt the darkness.

"Sshhh." He felt her weight on him as she wrapped her hand around his forehead. She reached across his body with the other and released his death grip on the bed covers, entwining her fingers in to his.

"What are they these nightmares, that they haunt you so?" she breathed in his ear but he could not speak, could not answer her.

"Does it help if I hold you?" she asked. Unable to utter a word he simply tightened his fingers around hers, hoping she would stay.


	12. Wrapped like candy

_**Warning – some nastiness early on in this chapter, verbal threats etc. **_

_**Sorry all for the delay in updating, work has been so busy so this is a VERY short chapter as I have had no time at all recently but I wanted to post something rather than nothing. I may get some more time tomorrow, if not it could be another week. Sorry guys.**_

_**I just want to clarify that Morgan is mostly a thing of my own invention and she is not based on the TV show Merlin [which I have never seen]. There are elements from mythology and from old films but her background is not quite what the legends might have us believe [in this story anyway]. Edited Dec 11 2012 for SPAG although I bet I still missed some.  
**_

**Chapter 12 - Wrapped like candy, in a blue blue neon glow.  
**

"**Do you feel it?"**

Loki could not speak. Blood dripped silently on to the floor and he stared vacantly at the growing red puddle.

"**Do you feel it, Asgardian? Betray me and I will desecrate your very being; I will strip the flesh from your bones, piece by tender piece and, when you are on the brink, of death I will take you and use you like a common whore. I will rut the last breath from your body and keep your cold corpse as a puppet to be used at my pleasure. Do you **_**feel**_** it?" **

The God of Fire and Mischief nodded once in compliance**. **The insidious whispers in his ear and the paralysis restraining him faded, leaving him alone, on his knees and a lifetime away from the tranquil contentment of Morgan's embrace in which he had woken several hours ago.

Beneath his folded arms he could feel the wounds slowly knitting together and he closed his eyes briefly, thankful his magic had been returned to him at least. Much good it would do. Thanos was more formidable even than Odin. The only way out of this mess would be to find the damned Tesseract and give it to him but even the God of Mischief balked at that thought. That this being, this… _thing_, would have so much power.

And what power!

Before the pain, Thanos had invaded his consciousness and showed him what the Tesseract was. Not just an energy source but a doorway to the universe. Not even that. It was a sentient, pulsing entity with a heartbeat that resonated through Loki's soul long after the images forced in to his mind had dissipated. It was his key to freedom.

The only way out was to find it and give it to Thanos.

The only way was to find it.

Find it.

And then… then he would see.


	13. The only great adventure left

_**This might need a tweak later for punctuation etc but wanted to get it up**_. _**To coin a phrase.**_

…..

A soft, blue neon glow hovered at the edges of his vision. When he opened his eyes, there was only the eternal dusk but when they were closed - when they were closed, the presence of the Tesseract was with him almost constantly. It whispered to the shadows inside him and set his soul alight with a lust he could not quell. If he had the Tesseract then they would have to take him seriously. He would make them all kneel. He would make them regret all their wrongs, all their lies….

"Who would be worthy? Of what…?" Morgan stepped out of the kitchen with a cup of water.

"What?" Startled out of his trance, he glared at her.

"You muttered something about someone being worthy."

"I said nothing you must be losing your mind," he snapped and turned to the pile of equipment lying on the table, ignoring her baffled expression. He could sense her standing in the doorway, contemplating his profile.

After what felt like an age, she asked him a question, "Will you go home? To Asgard I mean – when we get away from this place?"

Amongst the equipment he had requested from his captors was a deceptively uninteresting looking copper globe. He spun it aimlessly while he considered his answer. The Tesseract had settled, a faint heartbeat, thrumming quietly in the pit of his stomach. He knew the bitterness that rose up inside him was being magnified by it; he knew that it was steering him toward the darkest of roads and he was offering little resistance. But when she was near, when she held him at night she kept the beast inside at bay and she made him feel like his old self – how he was before Thor's banishment.

Vulnerable.

Lonely.

"I cannot go home." The copper ball revolved slowly.

"But you were King. How can a King not return to his people?"

"There can never be a frost giant sitting on the throne of Asgard. Odin has woken, Thor returned from exile and I - I am no longer required." He looked up and in to her dark eyes wondering what he would find there. She put down her cup and walked over to stand close to him.

"I know how that feels. But if you find this Tesseract, perhaps they would have to view you in a different light?"

He smiled down at her; she was so much an extension of himself - the old version of himself anyway. When he found the Tesseract it would be a jealous master and there would be no room for the witch. It was already drawing him away from her and the gentle bonds with which she had held him from the brink were beginning to snap one by one. The truth was he longed to embrace the dark. It was stepping in to the abyss all over again, the death he had wanted but had been denied. If his physical form would not die then he would let his mind fester and rot and lose himself that way. He would lose her too; she, along with all the others, would fall by the wayside and he felt regret at that. Sorrow, even but she made him weak. There was no longer a place for love in his heart and yet…

He suppressed the stab of resentment from the parasite nestled inside and he gave her the last gift he could. He took her face in his hands.

"Whatever happens, do not let Thanos know you have power. No matter what." This was important. He didn't know why, but he knew it was important. She frowned back at him.

"Do you understand me, Morgan? Your life may depend on it. They must never know what you are capable of. Never."

She must have caught the look in his eye because she didn't argue. "I understand," she said, then frowned again, scrutinising his face. "When did your eyes turn blue?" she asked, but he had already turned away from her.

The copper ball, in fact, was a simple conductor but one that magnified the range of etheric travel, allowing an experienced sorcerer to journey far beyond normal boundaries. Clearing a space around it on the table, Loki positioned the fingertips of each hand carefully on either side of the globe and closed his eyes.

He had long envied Heimdall's gift of sight but even Heimdall could not see everything. Loki's own, exceptional, talent for concealment had often helped him elude the omnipresent Watcher; with his power now returned to him, he could project out in to the void without fear of discovery.

How far had he fallen? Wherever they were, whatever realm this was it was not amongst the nine. It was not anywhere that he knew. They seemed to be surrounded by nothingness. Black empty space stretched in front of him as he opened himself up, probing the vacuum for that heartbeat. The vision of the Tesseract Thanos had showed him had permeated him; nestled within him like a fragile new born crying for its mother. When Odin had created the cube, he had created life. The Allfather had used cosmic energy to bring a sentient thing in to being and then he had locked it away in the vault, alone and abandoned with all the other relics. Worse, he had lost it somehow; forgotten and uncared for it had slipped out of all knowledge. But now it had found a surrogate parent. It had found Loki; it was calling to him and he would find it, nurture it, cherish it and release its latent potential against those who had wronged it.

The Tesseract was his hope and his future.

* * *

_Some days later_

"**You will tell me where it is located."**

"I will, but before I do, I wish something in return."

"**You retain your life at my will, Asgardian. You dare to bargain?"**

"You can kill me Thanos, indeed, I would welcome it but we both know you need me alive. It has spoken to me. I know its origins, that the cube was born from the knowledge Odin gained when he hung on Yggdrasil's branches. The Tesseract's potential can only be unlocked by someone with the power of the World Tree inside them." His fingers twitched as he waited to see what Thanos would do. Morgan stood quietly behind him, watching and waiting.

The creature spoke after a long pause, **"What is it you wish?"**

"I need an army. The Tesseract will give you access to the universe but I wish to take only one world. Earth." Take it. Rule it. The germ of something else, was also growing. Formless as yet, but it went beyond simple ambition. Embrace the dark. He saw Morgan staring at him out of the corner of his eye but refused to look at her.

Thanos leaned in, infecting his space. Loki could feel his fetid breath when he spoke, **"It is small price," **he sneered,** " You will have your little planet, it matters not. But you need to prove yourself a leader. You must prove that you have what it takes, Asgardian, to be a true ally of Thanos. Do you have the courage to do what is necessary? As a leader must?"**

This was almost too easy. "What would you have me do?"

"**Kill the witch."**

"What?" Only the faintest twitch of his jaw gave him away.

"What!" Morgan's head snapped around.

The creature laughed, a deep guttural sound that sent a chill down Loki's spine. **"Humans are so easily manipulated. Driven by their basest of instincts, they can be controlled by such simple, emotional tricks. It seems Asgardians are no different. A damsel in distress, a little reverse psychology and you fall in to each others arms like children. **

**She was only ever intended as bait. Leverage - if you will - and yet it worked so much more beautifully than we could have imagined. You wish to bargain with me, little prince, then you must embrace all that entails. I warned you that I would desecrate your very _being_."**

Loki watched as the monster, the instrument of his pain, held out a sceptre with a curved blade - the precious blue glow of the Tesseract captured in its centre.

"**Kill her and I will give you all you ask for. Or you may refuse and I will keep you both on the brink between life and death; my playthings for all eternity."**

"The Tesseract..."**  
**

**"Asgard has more than one inhabitant, does it not? You are convenient, yet not essential."  
**

Loki only hesitated for a second before accepting the gift. The sceptre hummed happily in his hands as it recognised the origins of his magic. The heartbeat within grew stronger, radiating out through his limbs and he felt it finally sweep away the last vestiges of who he had once been. He looked up at Morgan through an azure haze, she was backing away slowly, a horrified look on her face. He smiled in mock apology.

"No," she whispered, "don't…"

He saw her fists clench, her power gathering - his previous warning forgotten - and he struck before she had chance to muster enough energy to fight back. The gloom was split by bright white light as he fired directly at her heart, sending her flying against the wall.

Loki strode over to her lifeless body, black eyes staring at nothing, and prodded her with the sceptre to be sure.

"So. It is done." He gave Thanos a cold look and started to drag the corpse across the floor by the hair.

**"I am impressed, little prince. Leave the body. I may find … a use for it."**

"I would not deny you your pleasures, Thanos, but the Tesseract is on Earth and I need to test the portal before I travel through to fetch it. Her corpse will do that well enough – unless you wish to test it yourself? But I warn you, the equipment you supplied was not of high quality and if it is not calibrated correctly, it could tear you limb from limb." He brought Morgan's body and held it up like a rag doll in front of his tormentor.

The creature narrowed its eyes but, satisfied the corpse was indeed a corpse, it inclined its head in permission.

Loki bundled the cadaver over to the crude portal he had managed to fashion and pushed it roughly in to the centre with his foot. After toying with some controls, the portal began to hum and spit. A second blinding light filled the room briefly and then they were left, blinking in the half light. The body was gone but the portal made a whining noise, fizzled and then died.

"Hmm. It appears to be rather unstable. It may not be yet ready for a live body to travel through as it seems to have shut itself down. Allow me a little more time and I will have it working well enough. Once I am on Earth, I can stabilise it enough from that side to allow access to the army you promised. I take it you stand by our bargain?"

**"Just bring me the Tesseract,Liesmith, and you will have Earth to command as you wish."**

* * *

"Who the hell is that?" Agent Hammond and Agent Hart rushed over to the prone form lying on the dais. Called to respond to unauthorised activity in the Tesseract room, they had found it dark, quiet and unchanged except for the body.

"I've no idea. Never seen her before. She looks dead." His companion felt her neck for a pulse. "No pulse. No breath but she's still warm. Heart attack?"

Agent Hammond put his walkie talkie away, "I've called for an emergency response team. Hope you know CPR?" But the other agent was already pushing hard and fast on her chest.

The response team were by their side in seconds, working quickly and the agents stood back as they placed the defibrillator paddles over the woman's chest.

"What the hell happened to her? She looks like she's come from a Nazi concentration camp!"

Both agents could only shrug in response.

"Ok. Clear." They sent a jolt of electricity through the woman's body.

"Nothing. One more time. Clear"


	14. What does not kill us

**_Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. This chapter gave me grey hair! Hope you like it._**

**_Ha! I think Morgan may have been - what is known in our household as - a 'Spooky Child'. :-/_**

**'****_The Tesseract has awakened…' bit is taken directly from the movie._**

* * *

The machine was finished, it could communicate with the cube whenever required and the portal could be opened long enough to send him through safely. Loki sat on a chair, the sceptre across his knee, and waited for The Other to arrive.

It was these quiet moments that Loki found difficult, when his thoughts had nowhere to go but inward. The Tesseract was corroding him like acid; it was peeling him down to his dark and bitter core. Oh, he had gone through the motions, played his part over the aeons because he knew what was expected of him but, beneath the veneer, he had concealed a decaying, rotten heart. The Tesseract had shown him the truth of who he really was.

He found the quiet moments difficult because it was then he thought of Morgan. How foolish he had been to have missed such a simple manipulation by their captors. He had fallen through an abyss, fallen so far from grace he had not thought there was anything left of him for Thanos to take except his life, but he had been wrong.

In the quiet moments, he could almost feel her fingers in his hair, her breath against his cheek; the memory twisted in his chest. He closed his eyes against it and let the soft blue glow of The Tesseract show him the way.

* * *

The Other stood before Thanos, his master,_ "The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world, a human world. They would wield its power but our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead and our force, our Chitauri, will follow. The world will be his, the universe yours and the humans… what can they do but burn?_

* * *

_**S.H.I.E.L.D **__**Medical Centre, New York**_

"Good afternoon Doctor," Agent Coulson reached out and shook the young medic's hand, "I'm Agent Coulson, I'm here for a …"

"…a debriefing, yes I know," the doctor gave a wry smile, "she's been awake an hour or so but she's still groggy so you guys will need to wait a little longer before you can give her the third degree."

"Doctor Green, I assure you…"

Ignoring the platitudes Doctor Green got straight to the point, "Why all the sudden extra security Coulson? We've had one old guy standing guard for two days then, last night four heavily armed goons turn up."

Coulson sighed, "There's been a development. There was another… let's call it an intruder… at the research facility, in the same restricted area."

"I take it from the look on your face that this new one wasn't dead?"

"He was very much not dead, Doctor Green."

"Our mystery lady here was very lucky your response team got to her so quickly or she might still _be_ dead. Who is she Agent?" Both men peered through the glass at the woman on the bed.

"I don't know but when I return from visiting Mister Stark I intend to find out."

* * *

_Sixth century Britain_

**Morgan - 8 years old**

**Tintagel, Cornwall**

Uther Pendragon pulled the curtains aside and stepped out in to the corridor; he adjusted his trousers with a self-satisfied look on his face. Merlin would be rewarded for this; the disguise was perfect and no one had been able to tell he wasn't Gorlois, not even Gorlois' wife. He smirked at the memory of their tryst. Ygraine had been worth the trouble. Oh yes, once tomorrow's battle was over he would have her anyway but it was so much better when they were willing - and she had just been _very_ willing.

A movement in the shadows caught his eye; trained soldier that he was, he noted the size and build of his stalker and held no fear. This was just a child.

"Come in to the light," he commanded, certain of Merlin's magic disguising his face as that of the master of this hall. The little girl stepped out in to the glow from the tallow candles. The dark hair surrounding her face and the glitter of those black eyes told him without question this was Morgan, Gorlois' daughter.

"Go to bed, child," he said dismissively, finishing the adjustment of his clothes, but she did not move. He glanced up again and frowned, "Why do you stare at me so?" She was making him uncomfortable. Her face, pale as the moon, was expressionless but those piercing dark eyes disturbed him.

"You are not my father," she said quietly.

How could she possibly know? "Of course I am and you will feel my fist if you do not obey me," he barked, nervously.

"My father's blood will be on your hands Pendragon. I will not forget."

Uther Pendragon watched, aghast, as the little girl turned and disappeared back in to the shadows. He promised himself that, when he took Ygraine as his wife, he would beget a son without haste and this – this _spectre_ - would be packed off to a convent as soon as expedient.

….

**Aged 14**

"My Lord," the nun bowed her head and gestured for him to sit. Uther perched uncomfortably on the bench.

"You received my missive?" she asked.

"Indeed, Sister, I did, otherwise I would not be here," he said impatiently. "Tell me what the child has done."

"May I be frank, my Lord?"

"I would prefer it."

"She is Godless. She has been resident here for six summers and in this time have seen her engage in such tricks and deceits that the Devil himself would be proud of. You may recall my previous letters?" the nun asked, pointedly. Uther avoided her stern gaze.

"Please. Tell me what has she done this time? What line has been crossed that you refuse to continue housing her?"

But the nun was persistent, "We thought you might come and remove her after her mother died."

"Sister Mary!"

"Very well then," the nun leaned forward conspiratorially, "she mended Sister Octavia's bowl."

Pendragon could not hold back the snort of disdain. Women mystified him, they clucked like hens at such trifles.

The old nun drew back from his scepticism, sniffing and pointing her nose in the air, "The bowl was a favourite, a gift from Sister Octavia's deceased brother. It smashed on the floor in to smithereens my Lord. Thousands of pieces. The child bent down and swept the pieces in to her arms. Her robes meant we could not see the magic take place but she handed Octavia her bowl back in _one piece_." The nun leant forward once more. "Octavia was so disturbed she dropped it again and fled."

He was no stranger to magic; Merlin was his closest advisor but Uther could not admit that to this woman. However, if Gorlois' brat had power then it needed to be nipped in the bud. His son, Arthur, would be king and he could not have the child meddling. Uther congratulated himself for having had the foresight to make plans before he left Tintagel.

"I understand your concern but fear not, Sister, for I have the answer. I have a prospective husband who is willing to…" he paused, "… overlook her shortcomings." _But this will cost me_, he thought. _Vortigern will not take the girl without a substantial endowment_. "I will remove the child from your house immediately. I thank you for your care."

…

The little girl sat at the far end of the convent library; she had her back to them and her nose buried in a large book. She did not look round but, as they entered, her words echoed through the hall, "Uther Pendragon. You can sell me to that brute, Vortigern, but do not think your sins will go unrewarded."

Sister Mary crossed herself.

* * *

**_Thank you to all the lovely reviewers for all your feedback, good and bad. I hope this chapter is showing some improvement._**


	15. Every move you make

**WARNING contains a nasty flashback to a violent, non-consensual abortion. Detail is minimal but the scene is emotional.**

* * *

**S.H.I.E.L.D Medical Facility, New York**

"Ma'am, my name is Agent Coulson. I hope you're feeling better?"

Morgan glanced at the polite man in the suit but did not reply. She knew better than to give away any kind of information for free. She braced her hands on the bed and swung her legs around to dangle over the edge.

"I've brought you a coffee; I thought you might like a hot drink," after holding the cup out uselessly for a few seconds, Coulson placed it on the bedside table, "I'll leave it here for you. Do you know where you are, ma'am?"

_Earth_, she thought but did not say it aloud, _but I don't know how. America I guess by the accents_. She waited for Coulson to fill in the gaps.

"You are in a medical unit in New York. You were found in a very high security area at a testing facility elsewhere. You were dead when our agents discovered you. The response team resuscitated you and brought you here two days ago," he paused and stared at her in that direct, unflinching way he had.

_He's trying to gauge my reaction. _She stared back.

"You don't seem unduly concerned at having been brought back from the dead, ma'am."

Finally she spoke, "There are worse things than being dead, Agent Coulson."

* * *

**Sixth Century Britain**

**Morgan Age 24**

_Llyn Syfaddon, Brecon Beacons, Wales_

The snowy winter landscape glittered as the blush of dawn tinted its face. A cloaked figure emerged out of the mountain mists and crisp footsteps echoed through the emptiness until they came to a halt at the water's edge.

Morgan slipped the hood of her cloak back and looked out across the ice. The morning sun lit her up like a flame as she lifted her face to its warmth for a moment. She let out a sigh touched with sadness and opened her eyes again, knowing what she had to do. Arthur would have to die.

"Nimue," she called. "They are all dead; my father, Gorlois, long since slain by Uther. My husband, Vortigern, taken by God for his mortal sins," she recalled Vortigern's sudden, violent and fortuitous heart attack that had left her blameless and heir to his estates.

A bitter smile lifted the corners of her mouth, "Uther Pendragon, usurper, murderer. I have taken my revenge and he is nothing but dust and ashes. Our land is subject to the law of lineal primogeniture. I was and am the rightful heir," Silence lay like a blanket around her. "I know my father gave it back to you before he died Nimue, but it has passed to me now. You would not give it to Pendragon, but I ask that you honour me as is my right."

Morgan – widow, witch, last heir of the House of Gorlois - lifted her chin and waited.

For a single moment the air seemed to freeze around her as if time were coming to an end. A deep cracking sound splintered the silence; a sword, raised by a pale arm, burst through the inches-thick ice in a shower of crystals and stood proud, awaiting its mistress. Morgan drew a sharp breath; until this moment she had not been sure.

The witch stepped on to the frozen lake and walked towards the sword. When she reached it she peered curiously in to the black water but could see nothing beyond the pale arm disappearing in to its depths. She crouched beside the brandished weapon and laid her own hands softly on to the one grasping the hilt.

"Thank you Nimue," she whispered, "I shall not forget this."

….

**A cavern under Ynys Wydryn – The Isle of Glass [Glastonbury Tor]**

"A sword in a stone? A conjuror's trick Merlin," she raged, "you think the people will fall for such base deceits? You taught me otherwise." Morgan paced furiously in the cave.

"I taught you what I thought it was prudent for you to know." the short, greasy man clutched his belly in triumph and glee. "Why do you want to be queen, Morgan? Go do whatever it is women do, have children, learn your place in the world," spittle ran down the whiskers on his chin as he chortled at his own wit.

"There will be no children, Merlin. There will never be children. Vortigern saw to that many years ago," she trembled and almost choked on her own bile at the memory.

"Did you not know, Merlin? Did you not know the depths of Vortigern's depravity when you and Uther conspired to give him a 14 year old bride?"

Merlin tried to mask the expression of guilt and shame that were fighting for position on his face but the would-be witch queen was not going to let him off the hook.

"When he found out I carried a child, he vowed any offspring I bore would be cursed. He removed the unborn baby from my belly."

Merlin's face paled and he backed away from her onslaught.

"That's right, Merlin. He ripped it from me like it was rotten meat and he left me bleeding on the floor. If Bran had not found me I would have died,"

"Bran?"

"The very same." Her breath caught in her throat at the sound of his name. "The man Vortigern accused of treason against the king and hanged. Bran died because he saved my life." _And_ _because he loved me and he loved the child, his child, that Vortigern murdered._

It was a moment before she could speak again, "I will _not_ learn my place, Merlin. I will _not_ allow you to put your puppet, Arthur, on the throne. You are a base, grovelling little man." She drew the blade from under her cloak, it felt beautifully light and balanced in her hand, "I have been given Caliburn, the Sword of Monarchs. I am the rightful heir and I will _not_ allow you to deny me," she brought the tip up and lifted Merlin's chin with it.

He squinted down the length of steel in awe, "Morgan," he whispered, "you really have excelled yourself."

She had closed her eyes briefly to try and bury the image of Bran that had risen, unbidden; that was why she missed the sudden movement when the weasley little man reached in to his pocket and threw a handful of powder in her face, making her cough and splutter.

"What is this?" she choked but the paralysis was already beginning to take hold. Caliburn dropped from her fingers and clattered to the floor as she stumbled back, against the wall of the cave.

Merlin bent and picked up the sword. He had to use both hands to lift its weight but he chuckled again, at his perceived cleverness, "I am sure I can arrange for Arthur to receive this in a suitable fashion. One that will persuade the people he is the King of the Britons they have been waiting for. And you, my dear, I'm afraid you will never leave this cave."

Placing Caliburn carefully to one side, he laid his oily hands on her shoulders and pushed her slowly in to the rock behind. Paralysed, Morgan could only scream silently in her head as she felt the sandstone entomb her body and watched the light fade until there was only cold, eternal darkness.

**13th Century Britain - 1275**

The earthquake was felt as far as London. The little church on top of Ynys Wydryn did not stand a chance against the wrath of Mother Nature and its ancient foundations crumbled and fell into ruin.

Deep beneath the tor, the underground caverns rumbled as walls gave way and great piles of debris were shaken loose by the quake.

Eventually the world relaxed back in to stability, the dust settled and all was hollow silence again. Except – not quite silence – it was broken by a gentle patter as a few pieces of detritus tumbled from one of the piles and rolled to the floor. A hole at the top of the pile seemed to collapse inwards and from it, a delicate, bloody hand pushed through. The hand scrabbled to make the hole larger until finally a voice, dry from rock dust, spoke its first words in over six hundred years.

"Merlin, you unholy _cunt_!"

* * *

**S.H.I.E.L.D Medical Facility, New York**

"What do you know about the Tesseract, ma'am?"

_The Tesseract? I must have come through the portal; it must have been Loki_…

Her thoughts were interrupted when Coulson produced a small black gadget with a screen.

"Do you know this gentleman, ma'am?" he hit a button and a video started playing. Morgan saw a room with a large machine and a dais. Two men, one had an eye patch, were talking although there was no sound, so she could not hear what they said. She watched as neon blue light lit up the room and smoke cleared to reveal a familiar, lean figure kneeling on the dais.

_He's still alive, then._

She watched the ensuing slaughter without a word.

Coulson switched off the gadget and held it against his chest. "He calls himself Loki and he's killed 80 people that we know of. Do you know him, ma'am? Your body was on the point of severe malnutrition when you were brought here. Is he the one who starved you? Can you tell us where he came from? Can you tell us anything about Loki… anything at all?"

She got unsteadily to her feet and grinned, "I've no idea who he is, Agent Coulson," she lied, "but he's a big, bad handsome man isn't he?"

* * *

**_To clarify – in literature and legend The Sword in the Stone and Caliburn [Excalibur] were two different things as they are depicted here - and there really was an earthquake in the 13_****_th_****_ century that toppled the church on Glastonbury Tor._**


	16. A whiter shade of pale

**S.H.I.E.L.D Medical Facility, New York**

As soon as her feet touched the cold, hard floor she felt the power winding around her bones. The return of her magic filled her with assurance and comfort, like the embrace from a long-missed lover and a grin split across her face.

"I've no idea who he is, Agent Coulson," she lied, "but he's a big, bad handsome man isn't he?" Morgan flexed her fingers and considered her next move.

The agent sighed, "I would appreciate a little more respect for the dead, ma'am."

She bristled at the reproach but said nothing.

"Ma'am, I will have to ask you to accompany me until we can fully assess the situation."

"And if I refuse?" The old power was a river of energy that rose from the earth and poured through her, ready to be directed but there was something else, something new. A deep, silent well had settled within her, as if it were waiting for something to stir it into a maelstrom. She'd felt it briefly when Loki had tried to teach her about alternating current. Then, it had been such a struggle to understand but now, it suddenly seemed so obvious - so easy.

The agent dropped his eyes to her still flexing fingers for a moment, "Then I would have to insist, but I hope it won't come to that," he said, the inflection in his voice a testament to how fervently he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Morgan smiled, more softly this time. She'd been brought back from the dead, yet again – the fleeting thought crossed her mind that she must be rapidly using up her nine lives – but, despite the implication she was not yet free to go, so far these people had only been helpful and kind. Confident in the knowledge that nothing could now stop her from leaving whenever she liked, Morgan le Fay decided to hedge her bets.

"Then I will accept your invitation," Morgan inclined her head gracefully, "but I do ask one thing. Do you have any scissors?" She pulled her fingers ruefully through her hair and displayed the clump that had come away in her hand.

…

**Stuttgart, Germany**

The old man snivelled and clutched at his chest but he could not stem the scarlet that gushed from inside him. He watched with terrified eyes as his killer stowed the object he had taken inside his jacket. The tall, slim man in black spun his deadly sceptre until it shimmered and took on the appearance of a cane. Then he stepped callously over the old man's prone form and left without a word.

…

"Thor, don't kill it! It's just a baby!" The skinny boy pushed his brother violently to one side and knelt beside the yawping Bilgesnipe.

"It'll never survive without its mother, Loki."

The dark-haired youth gently reached out and stroked the fur-covered monstrosity that passed for the Bilgesnipe's head. His heart melted a little as its strange, barking cries grew less frantic at his touch and Loki looked up at his brother with wide, green eyes.

"It will never survive, Loki, you cannot raise a Bilgesnipe!" Thor shook his head in exasperation.

"You have your goats, why should I not keep a pet?"

"Because it's repulsive and you know how destructive and dangerous Bilgesnipe are; it may seem … sweet… when it's small…" Thor's expression was unconvinced by his words, "but it cannot help its true nature and one day its instinct will take over. If you want a pet I think Fandral still has one bitch left from Diver's litter. Come now, little brother, let me put this stray out of its misery."

"No."

He huffed in response but knew he had lost the battle as soon as Loki had turned those wide puppy eyes on him. He was ever a slave to Loki's whims, as bizarre as they seemed to everyone else. Thor watched in bewilderment as the boy found some small apples scattered on the floor and fed them one by one to the misshapen creature. One day he knew, this would end in tears, but not today. He could not bring himself to break his little brother's heart today.

….

Pale, appreciative fingers caressed the cool, marble balustrade as Loki descended the opera house stairs. He wondered why the memory of the Bilgesnipe, above all others, had surfaced. Perhaps it was anticipation of what was to come next. The certain knowledge that Thor had been right, one cannot deny one's true nature.

He had had to kill it in the end. He had cried as he had cut the creature's throat but that recollection played like a distant, half-heard echo in his head. He felt nothing now, only exhilaration. The Tesseract had given him the freedom to truly be himself and its comforting presence inside him spurred him on. He spun the sceptre in his hand and whirled it around with deadly grace. It made a crunching, final contact with the security guard's skull and the crowd scattered in terror, screams resonating through the hall.

The other man, the object of his game, was lifted bodily by the throat and flung like a rag doll across a marble surface. Loki pulled the device from his inside pocket but, as he jammed it in the man's eye socket, he felt a fleeting shock - a moment of carity, of pure horror - and he almost pulled back but the ethereal voice from The Tesseract whispered to his fractured soul.

_This is what you are. What you always were. Death, destruction and chaos .You are the great dragon, the random thread that binds all worlds together. You were made to rule them, whom else should they worship?_

He lifted his head and smiled.

* * *

**S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. Airborne.**

The guard's radio crackled and stuttered in to life. The guest in cell three only heard fragments of the conversation but that was enough.

Stuttgart? That could not be a coincidence? Surely? Morgan had played possum for long enough and now it was time. She pressed a hand against the lock and looked for the energy she knew was waiting to be called on. It stirred and spun inside her and became a throbbing current of potential. She heard the lock click smoothly and stepped calmly into the corridor. Taken completely by surprise the guard could only drop his mouth open as she laid a tender hand across his brow and dropped him silently to the floor.

"I guess you were holding back on us."

Morgan twisted her head at the familiar voice, "Did you ever doubt it, Agent Coulson?"

"No, ma'am, I've worked with enough dangerous women to be able to spot the signs quite early on. It appears we can't keep you contained so would you care to tell me why you've chosen to break out now?"

She turned and faced him, weighing up her options. Perhaps getting S.H.I.E.L.D on her side might work to her advantage? "I think your fugitive may have visited an old friend of mine and I'd like to know why. If you take me to Stuttgart, Agent Coulson, I will tell you everything I know about Loki."

* * *

**Stuttgart, Germany**

The jet carrying the redhead and the strangely dressed soldier took off to go and face the might of the God of Mischief. Something in Morgan tugged with regret at not going with them but she would see him soon enough. When she was ready.

Instead, she and Coulson walked across the street to the ancient merchant's house. It felt unnaturally dark and quiet and, as they reached the half-open door creaking in the still, night air, they exchanged ominous glances.

The room seemed like something from a theme park. Wooden beams hung with cobwebs and racks and benches of dusty bottles containing all manner of curiosities, jewelled liquids and desiccated insects lined the walls. Morgan rolled her eyes at the blatant theatricality of it. The wooden floor was sticky with blood and, at first, she thought the old man was dead. She knelt cautiously next to him but started when he suddenly opened his eyes and drew a long, bubbling breath. He seemed just as surprised to see her but beckoned her closer with a gnarled finger that lay across his chest.

Morgan hesitated briefly then bent down so she could hear his last words. He whispered feverishly until she drew a sharp breath and snapped her head up in shock.

"What is it, ma'am?" Agent Coulson enquired, but she ignored him as the old man opened his mouth again and spoke for the last time.

"Forgive me?" he asked his voice like the rustle of dry leaves.

Morgan le Fay laid a hand on his brow, "There is no forgiveness for a coward and a cold-hearted devil such as you. This is your end, Merlin; I only wish it had come sooner."

The old man's eyes opened wide, but only for a moment and then he was still.

"A little harsh, don't you think, ma'am?" Agent Coulson broke the silence,

"One day, Agent Coulson, I will tell you all about Merlin and maybe you will think I was not harsh enough." She rose and straightened her clothing.

"Did Loki kill him?"

"Yes. And he took something." She looked at the suited man in front of her and wondered if she could make him understand exactly how much trouble they could be in. "Loki may have something more dramatic in mind than just setting himself up as ruler of the Earth. I will explain but first we need to find a freshwater lake. Urgently."


	17. No sun up in the sky

Morgan held Caliburn across her lap as the jet flew them through the night and back to the Helicarrier. The radio crackled in to life and she listened in as Coulson answered it.

An irritated voice barked over the airwaves, _"Coulson, what the hell is going on? Do you still have the woman? Are you going to tell me why you two seem to have gone on vacation?"_

Coulson remained completely unruffled, as always. "It's a long story, director."

The radio sputtered again. _"I am not going anywhere."_ Evidently, irritation had turned into exaggerated patience.

"Well, I don't have all the facts yet, sir, but the woman has identified herself as Morgan le Fay and we had to make a detour to collect a sword from a body of water close by."

There was a long pause before the radio voice spoke again. _"Agent, are you telling me you have just picked up Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake?"_

Morgan raised her eyebrows, impressed that the voice clearly took Coulson's word at face value.

"She calls it Caliburn, sir."

"_Is she hostile?"_

"I really only saw her arm, sir."

Morgan chuckled; she was growing to like Coulson.

"_Is that supposed to be funny, Agent?"_ The irritation in the radio voice had returned.

"No, sir. I understand that you meant is Miss le Fay hostile and not The Lady of the Lake - I'll check, sir." Coulson lowered the hand holding the receiver and directed a question at Morgan. "Are you hostile, ma'am?"

"Not at the moment, Agent Coulson," she obliged.

He nodded his head as if to say 'fair enough' and spoke into the radio again, "She says not at the moment, sir."

The radio voice had clearly had enough and spoke sharply_, "Coulson, when you have managed to obtain all the facts please debrief me at the earliest opportunity. I need you back on the Helicarrier ASAP – Stark and Rogers have Loki and are bringing him here right now."_

She raised her eyes briefly.

"Yes, sir." Coulson hung up the radio and came back in to the body of the jet to sit opposite Morgan.

"Your boss doesn't seem too happy, Coulson." She leant back against her seat and studied him with interest. He intrigued her. He seemed so buttoned down but clearly had a rebellious streak.

"Ma'am…"

"Please call me Morgan. I am not the Queen."

"Morgan, I have taken quite a risk in trusting you and not everyone is happy about it, as you've just heard. I need you to tell me what is going on. What is it that Loki took?"

She sighed and looked down at the sword across her knees. "You need to know that Loki was never my captor, Agent Coulson…"

"Please, call me Phil."

"Phil. Merlin has a … _had_ a thing for collecting ancient artefacts. He used me to bargain for a hunting horn. Sold me to a – a creature from another planet - or dimension - or something. I didn't know what the horn was at the time and when I told him about it, Loki said he didn't either. It seems he wasn't telling the truth."

"You were kidnapped? How?"

"Iron handcuffs and a vial of dragon blood."

Coulson opened his mouth but closed it again when she gave him a filthy look, clearly warning him not to ask.

He tried another tack. "Loki was in league with this creature?"

"No – or - not at first, anyway. Now, I am not sure. He just fell in to their hands – literally - out of the sky. They tortured him. They tortured us both…." She looked away.

"You need to tell me everything, Morgan."

"No. No, I don't.".

Thankfully the quietly spoken man in front of her did not try and push it. "The hunting horn – that's what Loki took from Merlin?"

"Yes. It's Lussi's horn."

Coulson shook his head, "I don't know what Lussi's horn is."

Morgan leaned forward and ran her hands through her hair. They had cut it for her on the Helicarrier – that thing was like a flying city – and she was still getting used to the feel of the close crop. Fiddling with it helped her think. Finally, she looked up at Coulson and told him,"Lussi is the leader of the Wild Hunt. The horn calls them.

Coulson looked bewildered and shook his head again – not understanding.

Morgan took a deep breath, "If Loki calls the Wild Hunt it will mean the end of this world - of all worlds. They will destroy everything and everyone until there is nothing left. Total annihilation. "

"Then he would have no one to rule except this hunt, what would be the point of that?"

"You don't understand, he won't command the hunt - it would destroy him as well. Calling the Wild Hunt is suicide!" Morgan leaned her head in her hands. "I can't believe he would want that but why else would he take the horn?" She breathed the last words, almost to herself.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why would he bring down an apocalypse on everyone when he wants to be King of the World?"

"I am not sure that he does want to be King of the World. I think the Tesseract is controlling him somehow. Thanos showed him a vision of it and I lost him after that." She couldn't keep the break out of her voice.

Coulson paused before he spoke again. "Did he try to kill you?"

She stared at the wall for a long time before she answered. "There are worse things than death."

They sat out the rest of the flight in silence. The question had been on Coulson's tongue, she knew it but didn't want to answer it. Had Loki tried to destroy her out of mercy – keeping them both from whatever horrors Thanos would have subjected them to – or was he just a cold blooded killer? Maybe it was foolish to hold him in her heart the way she did.

_Foolish - idiotic – unrequited. I should know better…_

Maybe.

….


	18. A Dangerous & Irrisistible Pastime

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter Eighteen

**A Dangerous & Irresistible Pastime**

* * *

"So you're telling me that Loki now has the means by which to destroy the entire world?" Fury's tone was measured but Coulson knew the director of S.H.I.E.L.D was simmering beneath the surface.

"Apparently it could destroy the entire universe, sir. Everything."

"He was searched when he was brought to this ship, Coulson. We took all his weapons from him."

"Sir, Miss le Fay is able to conceal a very large sword strapped to her back. Some sort of illusion. I imagine Loki may be capable of the same thing." Coulson had thought he had pretty much seen everything until the moment the woman had caused four feet of steel to vanish before his eyes.

"And where is Miss le Fay now?"

"I sent her to the quartermaster to get a change of clothes."

"Do you trust her, Coulson?"

"I don't think she has any intention of starting a war with us, sir."

Fury sighed and rested his hands on his desk. "Nonethelss, we only have her word for it about what this horn does or that Loki even has it. I don't have time to deal with her now. We keep this to ourselves, Coulson, and Miss le Fay is your responsibility. Ensure she remains contained."

"Understood, sir. You don't think we should tell his brother, sir?"

"Thor? No not unless he can _make_ Loki give up the Tesseract and anything else he may have. Finding that cube remains our priority and then the Asgardians can deal with the rest. Speaking of Thor, you need to inform him we have moved Jane Foster successfully and she is out of harm's way. I'll be along shortly. Thank you, Agent Coulson."

"Thank you, sir."

Coulson stood outside Fury's office for a moment considering his options and the likelihood of keeping Morgan le Fay contained. He turned his head at the sound of approaching footsteps and smiled as the perfect solution nodded and wished him a good morning.

"Captain Rogers, may I speak with you a moment?"

….

She laid a palm on the tiled wall of the shower and leaned her forehead against the back of the same hand, pinching her nose between her thumb and forefinger of the other to clear the water from her face. Hot liquid cascaded over her back in a lulling, hypnotic flood and she took several deep and deliberate breaths to try and centre herself.

What to do next? It was bothering her, mostly because she knew what she should do and she didn't want to do it.

Morgan le Fay had lived a large part of her life hidden away as a recluse. With one or two small exceptions, she had taken no interest in world affairs at all since the seventeenth century. She was no stranger to death and destruction; time had anaesthetised her to it all and somewhere along the line she had stopped living and had existed only in a vacuum. Frankly, she didn't care if Loki became King of the Earth or not - or who he killed along the way - but the thought of his unleashing the Wild Hunt made her very afraid.

Her life and vitality had already been sucked out of her by the weight of centuries; her heart had shrivelled and died long before her captivity by Thanos and she remembered how close she had come to starving to death.; she remembered thinking how easy it would be to just slip away. Shehad lain in Loki's arms and asked for exactly that.

_"Let me die."_

_"No."_

He had pierced her armour with a single word and brought her back to life in every single sense yet, she still didn't know why.

She had looked in to his eyes so many times since that moment and she berated herself now that she hadn't acknowledged what she'd seen there. Morgan le Fay had longed for death herself once and she had recognised that longing in Loki. Even when the Tesseract had taken him and turned his eyes blue she had denied it; perhaps she had thought she could make a difference but she couldn't deny it now. Not now he had Lussi's horn.

She was afraid because she didn't want to die anymore and she didn't want the world to end. She had to go and face him. Her lover, her saviour, her killer.

She stepped out of the shower and ran her hands over her hair to squeeze out the water. The quartermaster had found her some cotton jeans, boots and a vest top with a cotton jacket all in a uniform black. It all fitted pretty well and she finished by strapping the sword to her back once more and pausing in front of the mirror.

The cold whisper of a steel blade being drawn from its scabbard cut the silence and Morgan spun it in her hand, just the once and smiled to herself. Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, the man who had taught her to use a sword, would accuse her of showing off but knowing she hadn't forgotten that little trick gave her confidence. She spun it again and sheathed it expertly in one, smooth movement then walked out of the door.

* * *

_**Tweaked again 8/1/13 to try and explain a bit more why Fury isn't worried about the horn.**_

_** For those not familiar with the Avengers - in the movie, S.H.I.E.L.D have been using the cube to create weapons of mass destruction which is why Fury is under pressuire to get it back. Also - there is a short scene [which I imagine takes place shortly after the one above] where Fury asks Thor if he can make Loki give up the tesseract. To which Thor basically replies 'no'.**_


	19. A warm, embracing dance away

Through Mystery & Madness

** A warm, embracing dance away.**

* * *

The door to the corridor wasn't locked this time. Coulson wasn't stupid and had obviously realised that it wouldn't matter if it was but still, that little gesture spoke volumes. Twitchy and apprehensive she padded to the end of the empty corridor and peered cautiously in each direction, weighing up her options.

"Looking for someone?" a voice asked from behind her, making her jump.

She cursed inwards at her idiocy and turned to find the strangely dressed soldier she had seen on the jet earlier. She hadn't taken much notice the first time, she'd had other things on her mind, but now it struck her that he seemed very familiar for some reason. "Who are you?" she asked, raking her brain for that nagging memory.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am, we met earlier. Agent Coulson asked me to keep an eye on you."

Rogers? Something finally clicked in to place. She'd sat out World War Two but that didn't mean she hadn't read the papers. "Captain America?"

"You know me?"

"I remember you from the news reels," she said shortly, "I thought you had died?"

"You remember…?" He raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "I'm older than I look. So are you I'm guessing. Unless you are some sort of clone?"

"I'm no clone, ma'am."

He was frowning but she really didn't want to get in to a confrontation right now and her patience was wearing thin. "Please don't 'ma'am' me. Morgan is fine. It was nice to meet you Captain, now if you'll excuse me…."

He caught her arm gently as she turned to walk away.

"I was led to believe that you weren't hostile, Morgan… " his tone was almost as infuriatingly unruffled as Coulson's, "…but I can't let you wander about the ship by yourself."

"What exactly did Coulson tell you about me, Captain Rogers?" she asked quietly, turning back to him. Her scalp prickled as the power started rising within her.

"Everything." He replied, just as quietly.

She was wound up and poised on the brink of unleashing hell but if he could see that, he didn't show it. The soldier's calm steady gaze remained impassive and, grudgingly, she let the crackling energy at her fingertips fade. "Do you think you could stop me if I didn't allow it?" she asked, looking pointedly at his grip on her arm.

Steve Rogers dropped the hand holding her and let it fall by his side. "I hope we don't have to find out. Morgan, will you let me buy you a coffee?"

* * *

Rogers placed two frothing cappuccino's on the table and sat down. An incongruous sight in his red, white and blue but it didn't seem to bother anyone else in the café. Morgan looked around, wondering where in this vast, complex ship Loki might be held.

"So, why him?"

"What?"

"Why Loki? Forgive me but he doesn't really seem the loveable type." Rogers peered innocently at her over his froth.

She bridled. "I don't think…"

"That's where you were going when I bumped in to you wasn't it, to see Loki?" He stirred the coffee slowly and flashed those blue eyes at her again.

She folded her arms. "I don't know what Coulson…"

Captain America smiled kindly as he sipped from the cup. "It's not a good idea to see him yet. There's too much at stake and you have to understand that S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't yet have a reason to trust you."

She let out a deep sigh and sat back in her chair. "He has Lussi's Horn. No one seems to realise what that means."

"So tell me what it means. Who is Lussi?"

Morgan knew she was putting off the inevitable but talking to the serious, sincere man was currently a more pleasant prospect than facing her nihilistic lover.

"The legend goes that Lussi was simply a woman who refused to marry. She wanted to devote herself to her religion but her rejected fiancée denounced her as a heretic in revenge. They say she was hunted down by dogs and burned at the stake. There are quite a few variants on that story but that is the version Merlin believed to be true." She looked at Rogers, expecting to be dismissed but he just continued to sip his coffee.

"In some cases she is revered as saint but in other stories she made a pact with the devil or some other entity depending on the version. Whoever he was, he gave her an elemental form and a horn with which she called eight other dead spirits forming the Wild Hunt. They rode down those who had wronged them and slaughtered them all but they didn't stop at that. They carried on slaughtering everyone in their path and the devil, or whoever, could not control them. "

Rogers leaned his elbows on the table. "What happened? How were they stopped?"

"Someone more powerful interfered. I don't know who or how, some say it was God, in some religions it was Mohammed or Buddha but whoever it was, they made a deal that when the time came for the world to end, the Wild Hunt would be free again. They took the horn from Lussi and imprisoned them underground, setting a marker above them. To wake the hunt the bearer of the horn has to stand at the centre of the marker and sound it three times."

"A marker…?"

"Stonehenge." She said simply.

He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "You believe this? You think Loki wants to call the hunt?"

"I don't know what he wants. I don't think _he_ knows what he wants, Captain Rogers. All I know is he went out of his way to obtain Lussi's horn and who knows what he'll do if his current plan goes wrong? As to whether I believe it… Merlin believed it – to his dying breath. And what Merlin didn't know about folklore and legend was not worth knowing."

"Loki is very safely locked away in the high security containment area, so all we have to do is keep him there and away from Stonehenge for now."

"All…. I don't think you have any idea who you are dealing with! This is Loki - The Fire God, the Star Traveller. I could give you a good run for your money in a fight, Captain Rogers, and I have only a fraction of the power he is supposed to have."

Rogers folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "He hasn't given any indication of that…"

"Then he isn't trying."

An awkward silence settled over the cafeteria table until the sounds of people talking, eating and living their daily lives gradually filtered through the hush, easing the tension.

The look of earnest concern on his face was almost endearing. Morgan was driven by curiosity to ask a question. "What happened to you? How did they bring you back?"

At first she thought he wasn't going to answer but, eventually, he unfolded his arms and fiddled with the sugar pourer. "My plane crashed. It seems the ice somehow preserved everything. I woke up a few months ago."

"I know exactly what that's like," she blurted out, "Merlin trapped me in rock for six hundred years!" She mentally kicked herself for the second time and clamped her mouth shut in case she let anything else slip.

His eyes showed nothing but compassion however, and they exchanged a brief look of mutual understanding for a fleeting moment

"Morgan, I think maybe we could use your help but I need to ask you to wait in your quarters for now. There is a lot to deal with and the time is not right yet. Will you do that for me?"

Coulson was a lot cleverer than he let on, she thought as she looked into Steve Roger's honest, open face.

"Fine. For now," She agreed and kicked herself again for complacency.

* * *

The first explosion hit about an hour after Rogers had left her in her room. She'd just gotten up to get a drink from the bathroom tap and the force of the blast sent her flying, hitting her head on the wall. Morgan pulled herself up quickly, grabbed Caliburn from where it had fallen and strode out in to the halls to see what was going on. She'd be damned if she'd sit like a good girl and get blown up obediently.

The Helicarrier was in chaos, debris and smoke everywhere and uniformed men and women rushing to whatever stations they were needed at in an emergency. Time to move, she thought, and made her way through the smoke to where the air looked clearer.

A sudden, inhuman roar from the bowels of the ship beneath her feet caused her and everyone else to stop in their tracks and exchange terrified looks.

"What the hell was that?" no one answered her but the agents resumed their scurrying with extra haste.

The second explosion sent her sprawling along with several others. Someone pulled her to her feet then she was on her own again in a smoke filled corridor. She leaned against the wall, coughing and trying to see which way was the best way to go when she noticed the sign on the wall opposite.

HIGH SECURITY CONTAINMENT AREA.

She only hesitated for a moment.

* * *

"No!" Thor roared as he saw Loki about to escape from the glass cell and rushed forward, straight through the illusion and flat on to his face. He jumped to his feet as the door slid shut behind him.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?" Loki chuckled at how easy this was. His allies had arrived to collect him, crippling the ship as planned. The Beast was loose despite Romanov's interference and all he had to do now was dispose of his thick-headed brother.

"The humans think us immortal." Loki grinned wolfishly. "Shall we test that?" This would be a pleasure.

The sound of a large gun being cocked stopped him in his tracks.

"You like this?" Coulson aimed the gun at the figure by the console. "I've always wanted to find out what it does."

Loki grimaced with effort as he pushed the blade of his sceptre through flesh and bone; it erupted through Coulson's chest, even as the second illusion at the console faded in to nothing. He was a bringer of death now, his place in the world assured, his purpose crystal clear to him.

He let Coulson's body fall and smiled again at the look of devastation on Thor's face, gesturing nonchalantly at the blood on his blade. Thor would never know the full extent of the pain and loss his brother had suffered but Loki would do his best to remedy that.

He flicked the switch at the console sending the glass cage, and Thor within it, hurtling to the ground several miles below. He watched, expressionless, as the large doors closed again and silence settled around him.

"You're going to lose." Coulson gasped from where he lay dying, the gun across his lap and blood trickling from his mouth.

Loki rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Your heroes are scattered. Your flying fortress falls from the sky, where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

"I don't see how…" Loki never finished his sentence as Coulson used the last of his strength to pull the trigger and blasted him through the wall.

* * *

Morgan heard the blast and sprinted rounded the corner. Agent Coulson was on the ground, gun across his lap and blood all over his shirt. She touched his face lightly but he already felt cold and did not open his eyes.

A hole had been blasted through two walls to the blue sky outside the Helicarrier. The air rushed in as a tall figure pulled itself out of the rubble and brushed debris from its clothing.

"Loki." His name escaped her lips before she even had chance to think.

He lifted his head and they faced each other across the devastation.

"You're harder to kill than I gave you credit for." He said, picking up his sceptre. Frozen, she tried to will herself to move as he raised the weapon. Then Loki simply stepped backwards and out in to space.

Morgan's eyes widened in shock and shook off the paralysis, rushing forward "No!" she cried. Beyond the wound in the ship a S.H.I.E.L.D jet rose with Loki standing on its open cargo ramp. He took one last look at her then turned away and disappeared in to the plane as it carried him to freedom.


End file.
